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Are you mentally ready to exercise?

Hi,

It was just this morning and I had finished my exercise and was heading to the locker room. 

At the other end of the gym an exercise class was getting started in a few minutes (it was just before 8am).

As I was heading to the locker room some woman almost knocked me down in such a rush to get to the exercise class. 

I just had to smile.  Type A personality right there in the gym.  So, is that so bad?

Yeah, it is. 

The whole idea of exercising is to help your body (and mind and spirit) become healthier, stronger and fitter.   And you will also feel better and more relaxed. 

However, if you go to the gym and you are super hyped and stressed out because you might be a minute or so late, or because of something that happened at work then your time in the gym will not be as productive. 

Yes, working out can help relieve some of that stress.  But, not all of it.  

You will have a much more productive exercise session if you are prepared for the exercise session before you go there. 

I remember several times when I was teaching martial arts at UC
Berkeley that some of the students would come to the class and just be out of sorts. 

They couldn’t concentrate, they couldn’t pay attention and their attitude affected others around them.  I would always draw them aside and tell them that they have to leave everything outside the room. 

I even made them bow out and go outside the room, do some deep breathing exercises and then come back in when they could leave whatever was bothering them behind. 

This is what you have to do also.  Just lifting weights or doing some kind of aerobic/fitness class is more than just about the physical. 

Can you imagine if an athlete was all stressed out before a competition?  Would their performance be the best?  No way.  Sure a little stress or tension can help, but little is the key word.

If you had to do a lot of reading for a presentation the next day, do you think you would be productive if you were upset or totally hyper when you started reading?

Of course not.   You would be lucky to get through 10 words without losing your focus. 

The same is true of your exercise sessions.  You will be the most productive and get the most health benefits if you are relaxed and focused on what you are going to be doing and what you are going to get out of it. 

So the next time you go to the gym, take a couple of minutes and just relax.  Try some deep breathing exercises or spend a few minutes in the car meditating. 

This will help you get focused on your body and how you are going to improve it in your exercise session. 

Being mentally ready to exercise will improve your exercise session immensely. 

Try it.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Lose Weight or Fat? Part 4

Hi,

In this series on losing weight or fat, you have seen that just going on a diet and doing some lower intensity aerobics is not the answer to getting rid of body fat.

Yes, you can lose weight, but you will lose organ weight, bone weight, muscle weight as well as some body fat.   In other words you will be a tinier you, but with the same  body shape.

Low intensity to medium intensity exercise sessions whether they be aerobics or calisthenics do not keep your metabolism raised beyond the point of doing the actual exercises. 

That is because there is no afterburn effect.  You lose weight because you do raise your metabolism and do burn some calories while actually doing the exercise. 

As mentioned several studies have shown that these low to moderate intensity exercises do not burn as many calories over a period of time as higher intensity exercises. 

So that is the key.  In order to burn more body fat and to change your shape you need higher intensity exercises.

And as mentioned last time you need the fuel or calories to do these kind of exercises. 

That is why you shouldn’t drop your calories so much right away.  Just start eating better quality food and that will go a long way in providing you the energy you need.

So just what is high intensity exercising? 

Well, there is no easy answer to that.  What is high intensity for a professional athletes might be almost impossible for the average person. 

The goal is to improve yourself, not kill yourself. 

Everyone will have different levels.  If you are 70 years old, 150 pounds overweight and have never exercised a day in your life, then maybe just walking around the block is intense for you. 

But, you know what.  It does not matter.

Here is what matters.  Start doing something now.  Do something that you can do.  And you have to do one more thing.

This one more thing is the key and something in which almost everyone stops doing or doesn’t know they have to keep doing.

That one more thing is do a little more as often as you can. 

The great Russian weight lifter Vasiliy Alekseyev recognized this principle very well.  He set record after record by increasing the weight he lifted in small increments. 

He never (at meets) tried to lift the very max he possible could.  And neither should you. 

But, you need to start somewhere. 

Here is an example of something I started doing and built up to.

At the gym I got under a chin up bar that I could just barely touch by reaching up on my toes.   I did a squat and jumped up to grab the bar.  As I grabbed the bar I brought my knees up and pulled my self up into a pullup position. 

Then I came back down and repeated it.  The first time I did it I was breathing like a steam engine after 10 reps.  I did 10 more reps after resting and that was it. 

Eventually I worked up to 20, 30 and 35 reps with only a few breaths inbetween.  Then 1 day I did 50. 

Now I could never have done 50 on day 1.  Or maybe I could have, but it would have taken me a couple of hours.

So that is how you make progress.  You do an exercise(s) that is hard and taxes you.  And you keep making progress. 

Another point here.  Change up the exercises you do.  I do not do that exercise every time I go to the gym.  But, it is a great warm up for me and I will crank out 25-30 to really get me going. 

So bottom line, to burn body fat and make positive changes in your body, eat enough to keep your energy levels up with good quality foods.

Do more intense exercises and make progress. 

Thanks

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Lose Weight or Fat? Part 3

Hi,

In the last 2 posts you saw how most people in order to lose weight will go on a diet and start some kind of aerobics program.

We went into detail on how both of those ways was good at helping you lose weight.  As long as you never stop. 

But, they aren’t so good at helping your burn body fat.  In reality, the only thing that will happen if you lose weight is that you will be a smaller size of your original body shape. 

So how do you fix this?

Well, one way is to change the macronutrients in your diet.  Those are the proteins, fats and carbs. 

Just eating less food, whether it is less protein, less carbs or less fat will help you lose weight. 

But, it will do nothing to help keep your metabolism up.  And as you saw in the previous posts, eating less lowers your metabolism. 

One of the worst mistakes one can make is to reduce their calories too much. 

When you do that the body notices right away.  It does not like drastic changes.  It likes homeostasis or the “same old, same old”. 

A drastic change, like a drop in calories, will cause your body to reduce its need for calories to the level you dropped the calories.

So if you were eating 3000 calories a day and reduced it to 2000 calories a day, your body will reduce your energy needs so that it only needs 2000 calories a day. 

Now it takes some time for this to happen.  It depends upon your age, sex, stress in your life and how many times you have been on the yo-yo diet. 

If you haven’t lost as much weight as you would like and reduce your calories even more to 1500 a day, then your body will again reduce your metabolism so it only needs 1500 calories a day. 

This can continue until you die.  But, most people stop before then:-).

So what do you do?  You reduce your calories gradually and manipulate the macronutrients. 

You do this by cutting say 200-300 calories a day to start.  And you make sure you are getting food your body can use. 

That is good protein, good carbs and good fats.   Yes, you need all three. 

I think you already know that eating hot dogs and potato chips would not be considered good even if you only ate 1500 calories a day of them. 

Your body will need energy for the next part of the equation and that is your exercise program. 

Wouldn’t you like to know how to exercise less, burn more calories and keep a raised metabolism?

We will address that in part four of the lose weight or fat series.  Just know that you have to feed your body enough food and good quality food.

Thanks

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Lose Weight or Fat, Part 2

Hi,

The last post we saw that most people, in order to lose weight, stop eating as much and start some aerobics exercising.

We talked about the aerobics or low intensity exercising and saw that it was efficient at losing weight.  As long as you continue it.

Once you stop, for that session, the weight loss stops.  Once you stop exercising at all, the weight will come back quickly.

Even if you are on a reduced diet.  In fact, being on a reduced diet while doing aerobics is probably the worst way to keep weight or fat off for the rest of your life. 

Here is the problem with restricting your diet too much.   Once you reduce your calories, your body reacts. 

It reacts by first noticing that not as much food is coming in.  At first it is okay, but after a few days (time will vary depending upon the individual and how many diets they have gone on) your body says, hey I have to do something. 

I was planning on getting so many calories to function.  Now I am getting less.  I have to slow down.  So your body’s metabolism drops. 

One reason is because your body is concerned that it won’t survive.  So it slows down to match the caloric intake. 

The other reason is because your body recognizes that it doesn’t need as much energy for the smaller you. 

If you lose 30-50 pounds you are going to be smaller.  You don’t need as much energy so your body slows down. 

Now you might think that your low intensity aerobics will help keep your metabolism raised. 

Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.  Aerobics will not help you with this and the first article in this series showed you how that worked.

The next post in the lose weight or fat series will talk more about macronutrients in your diet and how that works. 

Thanks

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Lose Weight or Fat?

Hi,

Okay, you have to lose some weight (or fat) for an upcoming event.  Maybe it is for your wedding, an upcoming show, or you just got sick and tired of weighing so much.

If you are like most people you will reduce your calories and do some aerobics.  If you watch most people “running” outdoors or indoors on the machines you will notice that very few actually run.

Most jog at best or do some type of motion between a walk and a jog. 

Now, let me say there is nothing wrong with that.  After all everyone has to start somewhere.  And even walking – if done consistently – will help you lose weight.

But, is this the most efficient way to reshape your body?

The answer is no and here is why.

Low or medium intensity exercise will help you lose weight.  That is fat weight, muscle weight, bone weight, organ weight.  At most it is estimated that you will not lose more than 35-50% body fat following a low intensity aerobics or jogging/walking program.

This translates to a smaller you.  But the worst part of this is that you have not upped your metabolism. 

Low intensity exercise is not demanding on your body.  And it does not switch on the after burning effects of a raised metabolism.    So you are only burning up your body (fat, muscle, etc.) while you are doing the exercise.

Once you stop the burning effects of exercise stop.   And since you have not raised your metabolism the  body perceives that you do not need to burn as much fuel for energy.

The overall effect is that your body gets smaller and your metabolism drops.  Your body shape will pretty much remain the same. 

And what happens if you start eating a little more or exercise a little less?  Fat gain quickly is what happens.

There have been several studies that compare weight loss, fat loss and raised metabolisms.

While weight loss exercise does help you lose weight, it does nothing to raise your metabolism. 

If you can raise your metabolism you will burn more calories and more fat even if you are exercising 1/2 of the time. 

We will continue this lose weight or fat series for the next few posts. 

Thanks

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Hi,

Well, here it is, the new year and I am a little late getting started.  This is my first post this year. 

Had several trying experiences hit me all at once, but now I am semi-situated and ready to get back to providing you with the fitness information you want. 

Which brings up a good point.  What do you want.  Some of you are okay with what I have been writing.  Others not.

So let me hear from you.  Make your comments and let me know what you would like to hear more about.

I have listened and will be utilizing social bookmarking and videos much more this year. 

I will also introduce my own products and overall system that anyone can use in pursuit of their health and fitness goals. 

My basic premise and goal is for everyone to be able to get in the condition that they want to be in.

And to do this with a program they can use for life.

And that puts me apart from almost everyone else in the health and fitness world. 

Yes, there are several good programs for reaching your fitness, nutrition and health goals.  Usually they only concentrate on one aspect. 

Yet, each of these programs has a serious flaw.  Will anyone do this – or even be able to do this for the rest of their lives. 

You have a bunch of 20 year olds going through fitness routines that are very advanced. 

How is that going to help a 45 year old mother that has 3 kids and gained 40 pounds over the last 20 years?  It isn’t. 

You have programs that tell you to fast for 24 hours, then eat only protein for the next 24 hours and then pig out on carbs for 1 day.  Who is going to do that consistently for the rest of their lives?  No one. 

You have programs that tell you to take these pills (that only cost $80.00 per month) to fix this one thing.  Then take another pill (for another $80.00 per month) to fix one other thing.  Who can afford that?  Not many. 

So the key to any fitness, nutrition and health program is that it is something you can do and will do for the rest of your life.  It becomes a habit and fits into your circle of health. 

That is what my program will be about.  And even though it seems like common sense, no one else seems to be doing it. 

This is what I have been doing my whole life.  And even though there are stressful times (like this whole year already) and my cortisol levels were sky high, I still made it to work everyday and never got sick once.

I also still made it to the gym about 1/2 of time compared to my normal schedule. 

If I didn’t have a healthy fitness and nutritional base then I would have not been able to function at that level. 

So my goal is for everyone, no matter what is happening in their life, to be able to function and maintain their health and fitness all year long. 

You can do this when you have a program that is a part of your lifestyle and not something you have to force yourself to do. 

Stay tuned.

Thanks

Mike Val

The one thing that will guarantee your success in diet, fitness and health for 2011. Part 2

Hi,

In the first part of this series we saw how commitment is the number one factor you need to accomplish your diet, fitness and health programs in 2011. 

(Read it here in case you missed it: health success)

The first part of commitment is acting upon your commitment.  You saw how you need to decide what to do and how to do it. 

Now we will look at the second part of commitment. 

The second part of commitment has an endurance factor.  Binding yourself to the course of action.  Sticking with it long after the mood has left you.  Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. 

You have made the commitment.  You have acted and started eating better and exercising.

Now life gets in the way.  It happens to everyone. 

It doesn’t matter.  Did you think this was going to be easy? 

If it was easy, then no one would be overweight or out of shape. 

So making a commitment – the first part of commitment – is relatively easy.  Remember that is the first step.

The second, third, fourth and so on steps are the hardest. 

Keeping the commitment going – that is the hard part.  And this is where who you are comes into play. 

The last three lines of the poem by Ashbash sum it up much better than anything I can say to you.

Commitment is the stuff character is made of.
It is the power to change the face of things.
It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.

Okay, what I am about to say right now will probably shock you. 

If you want to be successful with your commitment and your diet, fitness and health programs you must take it slow. 

I would bet that the number one reason people fail at doing something –even if they are committed to it- is because they try to do too much too fast.  And they then expect to much in the way of results immediately.

The body does not work that way. 

Drastic changes in eating, drastic changes in exercising cause the body to rebel.   Cause the body to fight the very things you are doing – even if these things are better for your overall health.

So instead of trying to change everything you eat overnight, instead change one thing. 

Maybe you forgo the bagel and cream cheese at breakfast.  Maybe you drink your coffee black instead of with 500 calories of whipped cream. 

Do this for a week or two and then change something else. 

If you decide to go to the gym, don’t try to act like a professional body builder and do 20 sets for every muscle. 

Instead do 1 set of a very moderate weight 2 or 3 times a week.  Introduce your body to changes – don’t try to knock it out. 

The key point is that you want to get fitter and healthier.  To do this you need to change your life.  You do this by gradually introducing new things into your life. 

This way they will stick and become your life.   

Now you know what you have to do. 

Act upon what you really, really want and do it for the long haul. 

Those 25 pounds and flabby muscles will disappear easily.

You will be healthier, fitter, stronger and have tons more energy.  

Isn’t that worth committing to?

Thanks
 

The one thing that will guarantee your success in diet, fitness and health for 2011.

Hi,

Are You Willing To Do The Number One Thing That Will Guarantee Success In Your Diet, Fitness and Health Programs for 2011?

This one thing always works.  It actually works for anything you attempt to do – it doesn’t just have to be with your health or fitness.

Yet, it is something that almost no one does.

Part of it is because they aren’t even aware of it.  Part of that is because they aren’t aware of how important this is.  Part of it is because they don’t understand how to do it. 

So what is this thing? 

It is commitment. 

So now you are aware of it. 

It is everything. 

So now you are aware of how important it is. 

We will get into how to do it later.

So exactly what is commitment? 

Commitment has many different definitions.  Here are a few that I like:

The trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose.

The act of binding yourself to a course of action.

Sticking with something long after the mood you have said it in has left you… by jojo 11 Sep 20, 2008

Commitment is what transforms the promise into reality.
It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions.
And the actions which speak louder than the words.
It is making the time when there is none.
Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year.
Commitment is the stuff character is made of.
It is the power to change the face of things.
It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism…by Ashbash Jan 13, 2005

Wow.  I know that is a lot of definitions. 

But, let’s look at just a couple of them. 

First of all it is an act.  It is something you do.  

It is not something you just do by rote – like brushing your teeth or breathing – it is something you have to think about and then act upon.

So start out your commitment by deciding what it is you really, really want.  You have to want this more than anything. 

You can not commit to something that you really don’t care about.  Remember it is something that you really, really want. 

The operative word here is “you”.  If it is something that someone else wants for you, that will never work. 

If you spouse wants you to lose weight and you are only lukewarm to the idea, it is not going to happen.  Oh sure, you might make some pathetic attempts, but they won’t stick. 

You must be the one that really, really wants it. 

Since we are talking about your health let’s say you want to lose 25 pounds and “tone” your muscles (there is really no such thing as toning your muscles, but since it is a common term I am going to use it here).

You know that the 25 pounds aren’t just going to fall off by themselves.  You are actually going to have to do something. 

The first step is figuring out what that something is. 

Now maybe that something is eating less food or eating healthier foods or starting an exercise program.  Or a combination of the above.

Now you know what you really, really want to do.  That is to lose 25 pounds.

And you know what you have to do.  That is to eat healthier foods and exercise more. 

This is actually the easy part. 

Now comes the commitment.  Now comes the time to act upon what your want to do and have to do.

You have taken the first step.  Remember the saying that the first step is the hardest?  Well, that is a lie.

The first step is actually the easiest. 

The next post we will get into the harder part and the second part of commitment to your diet, fitness and health program for 2011.

 Thanks

The Myth? of Counting Calories

Hi,

You might have noticed a trend in the diet world.  A lot of so called gurus are claiming that counting calories doesn’t matter. 

They say that micro nutrients are more important.

Are they right?

Let’s see.

The micro nutrients under consideration are protein, fats and carbs.

Some studies have shown that it takes more energy to digest protein as opposed to fats and carbs. 

The same number of calories eaten of proteins will burn more energy than the same number of calories in fats and carbs. 

That is all good and true, but it does not negate the fact that if you are eating more calories than you burn, then you will gain weight. 

Proving that protein burns more energy does not change the over all  equation of more calories eaten than burned will cause a weight gain.

The mistake these gurus make is to not really look at what eating more calories means.

If you eat more protein than you burn (even if protein burns more calories) you will gain weight.

If you eat more carbs than you burn (even if carbs burn less calories) you will still gain weight. 

You can not get around that no matter how much you try to micro manage the micro nutrients. 

So please don’t think you can overeat protein and not gain weight. 

If you are trying to lose body fat, you still need to reduce the amount of food coming in and/or increase the amount of body fat you are burning through exercise. 

Now this does not mean that you should not pay attention to your micro nutrients. 

If you want to burn more body fat then eating less carbs – especially processed carbs – is a good place to start. 

Eating more protein while reducing the carbs for example will help you burn more body fat more quickly. 

So, in my opinion, these diet gurus should not try to fool anyone with their miracle programs that depend on eating more protein or trying to fool you into thinking that all you have to do is eat more protein and cut your carbs to burn body fat.

You still have to pay attention to your overall caloric intake. 

So forget the myths about counting calories.  Pay attention to how much you are taking in and how much your are burning. 

If your waist is getting smaller then you are on the right path.  If it is getting bigger, then change paths.

More on this and other myths in the future.

Thanks

Hi,

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a fantastic holiday season.

And a heartfelt thank you to all the readers of this blog.  And to those that comment.  It is very humbling and gratifying.

Again thank you.

Mike