Flat Screens = Fat Butts

We have a big message written on the mirror alongside our few cardio machines that reads: If you are reading or watching TV you are NOT burning fat! (We then give three sample workouts that can be followed)

This is not entirely accurate as any activity buns calories, but we are trying to remind clients of our emphasis on interval training. There is an overwhelming amount of research to support that interval training burns more fat than steady-state cardio. It's still a mystery to me why most folks are still stuck in the steady cardio mindset. I guess old habits are hard to break. While 30-45 minutes of steady-state cardio is better than no activity, I know our clients would like to make the most of their time on the hamster wheel.

I must admit that I am a bit of an enabler. I have two nice, flat screen TVs hanging just in front of the cardio equipment with the ability to listen on headphones. When we completed our 3rd expansion a few years back it was an inexpensive addition to our space that looked awesome. Fast forward and I can't wait to get them out of the gym!

We are planning another update of our space in the next few weeks and the wall that currently displays the TVs will be gone. I plan on removing them all together at that point, which may cause a minor uproar with a select few. Before you go postal, let me say that I understand. I mean, where will I watch Judge Judy and Maury? I can't go home and watch. The Mrs. don't play that!

We make decisions based on what is best for our clients. Most of the people we work with are seeking fat loss and time efficiency. If removing a few TVs will cause people to work a little harder, then we are helping them move just one step closer to their goals. Oprah be damned!

How about you? Do you watch the boob tube while you exercise? If so, I guarantee you that you will work harder if you shut it off and be a little more mindful of your effort level.

RM

Exercises You Should be Doing- Single Arm Cable Rows

This exercise is about as sexy as Janet Reno, but very important nonetheless.

Benefits: this is a great scapular stabilizer, which means it is awesome for your shoulder health and your posture. Yeah, it's a little vanilla, but it sure does work well.

Execution: resist the urge to let your shoulders rotate. Place one hand behind your back and, if you have the flexibility, place your fingers against the edge of your shoulder blade. As you pull the weight, focus on pressing the shoulder blade against your fingers or across your back towards the opposite hip. This will promote a squeezing effect and ensure that you are engaging the muscles that we are targeting.

Progressions: Obviously, increasing the load is a progression, but be careful not to go too heavy on this exercise. You must be able to control the weight and promote the squeezing effect that I mentioned above. These rows are somewhat corrective in nature, so we are not worried about using big weights.

Especially good for: Anyone with a history of shoulder problems or those of you who have poor posture.

Include these as part of your warm-up or at the end of your normal strength workouts.

RM

Guest Blogger

Here is a blog post by Andrew Heffernan describing the current direction of fitness industry.

Fitness, Cira 2010

One thing you'll notice spilling forth from the brains of some of the smarter and more outspoken trainers around is a recommendation to do more 'hybrid' training: fast-paced lifting with little rest, combination workouts involving sprinting, sled drags, climbing, and so on. I'm seeing this kind of thing recommended so often, and recommending it myself, that I'd even venture to guess that it's sort of the Next Big Thing. It think gyms are going to start to spring up around this kind of training (CrossFit, anyone?); and that people will be doing more and more of it over the next decade or so.

This trend follows an emphasis in fitness writing on what the body was "intended" to do, or "designed" to do, or, in some cases, what we "evolved" to do, with a nod towards our ancient ancestors and the presumed ruggedness of their hunting, gathering, big-game confronting lifestyles. Workout routines seem to seek, on some level, to duplicate the circumstances in which we evolved for all those millions of years.

"Barefoot" training is part of this same trend: back to nature, back to our roots, back to something organic and connected to our roots.

Someday I'll write a book about fitness trends and how they reflect the values of the moment. I'm seeing this current trend, in Malcolm Gladwell fashion, as tied into our concerns about environmentalism, a resistance to over-technologization (if that's a word) and to corporate culture, and a desire to get back in touch with something elemental about ourselves as homo sapiens.

This kind of fitness is also cheap--all you need, really, is a little space--so it also dovetails well with the current economic climate.

If the '70's were all about long-distance running and its attendant skinniness, the '80's were all about excessive wealth and excessive muscle, we seem to be entering a phase of the body as animal, in touch with its surroundings and capable of taking on any reasonable challenge that might come up.

Well put.

Simple Kettlebell Circuit

I am working on some projects from home today. Also, it is my "deload" week from training so I have been doing a lot of foam rolling, mobility work and just walking for well being. I love recovery weeks because I typically do a few new exercises or routines that don't always fit into my regular plan. Today I performed just such a workout.

The following is a simple kettlebell circuit that can be performed with one bell. I used the 20 kg since it was the only one I had at the house. Otherwise, I would have used the 88 :)

Perform 3 rounds of this circuit with 60 seconds rest between each round and without setting the kettlebell down:

Single Arm Swings x 10 each
Windmills x 5 each
Cleans x 10 each
Presses x 10 each
Squats x 10 each (racked position)
2 point row x 10 each

Click on the exercises to view the video for each.

Looks pretty easy on paper, but even with the 20 kg you will lift 14,520 lbs in less than 15 minutes. Great little circuit with limited space or resources!


Oh, and if you don't own a kettlebell for home use, what are you waiting for!?

Pick them up here- Kettlebells

RM