Shawsu Workout Studio

The Truth About Target Heart Rates

 

Here is a great post by Mike Boyle, I'll add some commentary later, enjoy!

Sergio Maldonado

I know. You’re probably saying “here he goes again”
and you are correct.

You’re thinking “Come on, don’t attack the target
heartrate zone idea too”. Sorry. Here we go again.

Every time I have this conversation with a group
I always get the question:

“If this stuff isn’t true, why is it plastered on the
front of every treadmill”.

I can’t really answer except to say that it probably
came out of the legal department.

The truth is that target heartrate zone training is a
highly flawed concept that could result in us drastically
overtraining or undertraining ourselves or a client.
Why is it a flawed concept? Because the physiologists
know that only a small percentage of the population
actually fits the formula. Did you know that seventy
percent of the population is plus or minus ten to twelve
beats from the theoretical 220- age formula.

Yes seven out of ten people don’t fit the mold. Even
worse, thirty percent of the population deviates nearly
twice that much.

In mathematical terms for seventy percent of the
population maximal heartrate actually equals:

220 – age plus or minus 10-12 beats per minute

For thirty percent of the population maximal heartrate
actually equals:

220- age plus or minus 20-24 beats per minute

Why is this such a big deal?

To realize why, we need to first state that those
whose heartrates are on the high end are at little
to no risk. All that happens with those folks is that
we don’t push them hard enough. The problem is
with the folks who have an unusually low maximum
heartrate. If we were to push a person in the thirty
percent group that is minus twenty-four beats per minute
to eighty percent of their theoretical maximal heartrate,
we would actually be pushing them to ninety percent.

This would be a major error that could have significant
ramifications.

The lesson here is that, as with so many of the so-called
truths of fitness, there is actually significant variability
in what we seem to think is an accurate and time-honored
formula. Be careful with yourself and with you clients.

Buy a heartrate monitor and learn how both you
and your clients really respond to exercise.

To your success,

Mike Boyle
www.FunctionalStrengthCoach3.com

PS – I have just launched an incredible new site that
you absolutely need to be a part of if you train hockey
players. It's called Hockey Strength & Conditioning.

Here is the website:

http://www.functionalstrengthcoach3.com/hockey

 

Perform Better Part II: Why machines suck

Why machines suck

Functional training is always the giant overlying theme at seminars. It is just a given, this seminar was even called the Perform Better FUNCTIONAL TRAINING Summit. Every GOOD trainer knows that machines are not an effective way to train and may be detrimental for some people. The main reason they are currently used and marketed is because they are simple and people feel isolated body parts working. However, the general population does not get the right information about how the human body actually works, which is as an integrated unit. Although, there may be times that one needs to isolate your body, to function properly and remain pain-free you need to train your body as a whole. In addition, if you are interested in losing fat, lose the machines! Dumbbells or any other implement including your bodyweight will help you burn more calories then doing the same type of exercise on a machine because there are more muscles and systems activated. Another reason machines are around is that they are expensive, more machines = more money for the firms that sell them.

Now here are 10 reasons why machines suck:

1) They do not support the body. The current book I am reading Gray Cook’s Athletic Body in Balance refers to this fact. But it is obvious, if you are sitting on a machine you are only supporting the limb(s) that are working. Nothing else is working as significantly as it can, it’s the definition of LESS BANG for you BUCK.

2) The best don't use them. If you check Men’s Health 2010 Top 10 Gyms in America and see the videos, what are they doing?  They are not sitting on machines doing “circuit training.” They are swinging Kettlebells, squatting, benching, running through ladders, chin-ups, flipping tires, pushing sleds, they are TRAINING MOVEMENTS. Now if machines were the BEST way to train wouldn’t the BEST trainers and the BEST GYMS use them? Obviously you can tell that they are not an effective way to spend your training time if the best don’t use them at ALL.

3) You can not vary the exercises much. Periodic variation is a key principle in progression.  With machines you are always stuck in the same position which is usually seated. Meaning you will be stuck doing the same exercise forever if you do not learn to lift free-weights. I saw this when I worked at the Y, people would come in day in and day out and do the same routine. With no results, now isn’t that the definition of crazy? I guess you could say they maintained but isn’t there better goals then just STAYING EXACTLY THE SAME. I have seen people in their 90′s progress, so I know you can too.

4) You are sitting! Most people sit at work, sit on the couch, sit in the car and you are going to exercise and SIT! That makes no sense, try not sitting and you will see a whole new world.

5) Many machines only work one joint at a time, some even two, wow! When just the act of sitting down in that machine involves more muscle groups! Use multi-joint movements as your staple exercises (squat, lunge,push, pull, rotate and run).

6) They take up tons of space. From a trainer’s perspective this makes tons of sense to not have machines around. We are trying to help more people not less, so why have a bulky machine that only does ONE thing take up all this space?

7) Exercise machines do not help you improve your posture.  If you are relying on a machine to sit up against your postural muscles do not have to work nearly a fraction as much with many other typical free weight training exercise.

8) Machines are flat out boring.  Their are so many great free-weight, body-weight, med ball… exercises out there that you can have lots of fun with and get much greater results.

9) They do not help you train balance, stability and mobility in the way that other exercises can. In an increasingly sedentary society we need to train all of those aspects just to function in daily life without getting hurt. If not then we are a ticking time bomb.

10) They do not resemble anything you will do athletically in real life. If you like to run, play sports, ride a bike, play with you kids/grand-kids or walk you should train to do those type of activities. Not train how to lift heavy weight while sitting down and reading a book.

If you have any questions, comments, arguments or would like to learn more about training. Always feel free to contact me:

Sergio

sergiom_personaltrainer@yahoo.com

machines suck

VS

Secrets of Fat-Loss

Get ripped, lean out, lose fat, keep my butt from sagging.... These are goals I hear everyday when I ask the people I train. I just watched a DVD  of a seminar I attended last year by Alwyn Cosgrove, the seminar had some great guidelines  for fat-loss which were all PRACTICAL and RESEARCH based. That means if you do it, then  IT WORKS.

We will start with the Hierarchy of Fat-Loss from most important to least:

1) Nutrition

2) See #1, yes it's that important

3) Activities that promote lean body mass, burn calories and raise metabolism

4) Activities that raise metabolism and burn calories

5) Activities that burn calories

Now we understand Nutrition is KEY and if you expect a change a body-composition you need to tweak your nutritional habits, more on this later. As for the activities here is what number  3, 4 and 5 correspond to in real life:

1) Strength training and metabolic acceleration training (MET). The first part is a progressive strength training routine which promotes lean body mass. Also, in the case that  you are in a caloric decficit you can keep or gain muscle with strength training . The second part is called MET, which is what I typically call metabolic conditioning, this includes timed sets, circuits, countdowns, tabatas and "cardio strength" mixed in with intervals. This type of work can elevate your metabolism for up to 36 hours afterwords!

2) Anaerobic intervals, these are intervals done at a pace that leaves you breathing hard by the end of the set above 85% max HR

3) Aerobic Intervals, intervals in a zone where you are left aware of your breathing under 85% HR

4) Aerobic conditioning, includes long distance pace work

If you have 1-3 hours a week use #1

3-5 hours use 1 and 2

6 plus hours add in 3 and 4

Here is a Nutrition Checklist which is a summary of the seminar:

1) Eat a big breakfast

2) Eat at regular intervals throughout the day

3) eat 3-5 meals

4) reduce the amount of refined carbs in the diet, basically go low-carb, still eat VEGGIES!

5) Supplement with Fish Oil as well as protein if you are not eating protein every meal

6) balance your Glycemic Load, basically eat carbs, protein and fat EVERY meal

7) drink tons of water, 1/2 body-weight in ounces

8) Take advantage of the post workout period by having a post-workout meal, with in 30-45mins after the workout.

All the recommendations above are researched backed and applied to everyday gym goers and it works. If you want to borrow the DVD let me know!

Note that strength training means it needs to be progressive and challenging. Just lifting a weight WILL NOT get it done. Become technically sound at a lift then overload it and lift heavy! Also note that the MET type of training should be activities that you are proficinet at and can use to get an cardio response as well as strength training. I post videos and articles on this frequently since this is hardest to "get."

Bottom line is that you need  to plan what you will eat for the week use these nutrition tips, strength train hard and get in some MET and enjoy the results!

Any questions, comments do not hesitate to contact me

Happy training

SM

Sergiom_personaltrainer@yahoo.com

Day 28 of the Paleo 30 day Challenge!

Shawn here.....I feel great!  Got up this morning, drank about 16 oz of purified water and ate an apple on the way to the Studio.  Had a fabulous workout with one of my 30 day Challenge partners and then went to Tom's Restaurant next door and got a Turkey burger (minus the bun) with grilled onions, fresh salsa, and half an avocado.  Yummy!  Worked with 3 clients and ate a fist sized amount of Trader Joe's "Just Chicken" (with olive oil and a feww dashes of Tobasco) during my half hour break and worked with three more clients!  Now I'm eating a Trader Joe's beet salad @ about 5 pm.  I also ate maybe 10 red grapes in the afternoon between clients. 

I've lost 7 pounds and 2 inches off my waist.  I really like Dr. Oz's idea to focus on "Waist Management" (our waist girth) rather than the scale!

Day 5 - The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, PhD

I felt and feel great today!  Yesterday was very rocky.  I was quite irritable when I got home last night.  Today I worked a lot more hours and later into the evening but I managed to eat regularly and ate meat with 3 meals!

For breakfast I had salad and a less-than-hand-sized piece of steak left over from last night's dinner and an apple.

Trainer & co-Paleo Dieter Sergio Maldonado stopped by and brought me a Paleo Snack of a pear, a cuttie orange, raw cashews and raw almonds.  I finished it for my afternoon snack.

For lunch I went to Tom's, next door, and Maria grilled a piece of chicken and put it on a bed of salad with an avocado and extra virgin olive oil.  It was real swell!

My massage client this evening has been on the Paleo Diet for about 3 weeks and feels fabulous.  She's so happy with the way she feels and how her body is changing that she foresees to problem staying on the Paleo Diet the rest of her life. She mentioned that she didn't thing that cashews were on the diet.  So we checked the book and found that cashews are ok not great due to their ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6.  The list of preferred nuts in best-to-good order are:

        Walnut, Macadamia, pecan, pine, cashew, pistachio. All others not recommended.

Oils in best-to-good order:

        Flaxseed, Canola, Mustard, Walnut, Olive Oil.  All other oils are not acceptable.

I dawned on me today that I hadn't provided information on the Paleo Diet book so I included it in today's heading.

Cheers!

Shawn

Paleo at a Vegetarian Restaurant & Info on Grains

Now this was tough.  Just got home from a cruise to Santa Cruz and dinner at the vegetarian restaurantDharma's.  It was wonderful that all the vegetables were beautifully fresh and organic but where's the beef!  Basically the vegan restaurant, like every other restaurant I've been to since the 1st, had at best one maybe two items on the menu close to my Paleo needs.  Tofu is a no-no so the soups were out, but I ended up having a lovely and filling "Mediterranean Salad" with greens, red onions, Klamata olives, artichokes, and feta cheese with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon and lime dressing.  I also had half an egg roll in a rice wrapper and gluten free beer by Anheuser & Bush.

OK ..... I don't really know yet where artichoke stand in the Paleo diet.  Cheese is not in the plan, nor are any grains.  I shouldn't have had the feta and it's really hard to avoid grains, like rice and the the sorghum (sp?) used to make the beer.  But here's the thing, we know that one of the ways that our body develops allergies to food and rejects the food causing an inflammatory response is by over eating the particular food.  Our body's hate repetition and love variety. 

While researching the Neolithic (post Paleolithic, Agricultural Revolution) time period  and foods are grains, wikipedia provided a breakdown of grains and cereals by the amount produced.  If we realize that the more of a food or food byproduct that gets produced, the more of that food stuff we are likely to consume, so the more likely we might be to become allergic to or become sick or feel dis-ease as a result of eating it.  After all, quinoa is a grain, and it's currently tauted as healthy compared to wheat's gluten.  And quinoa is the least produced grain according to wkipedia, so have we just not over consumed it yet? 

Basically, at the moment, if I have to make a choice between a a grain/cereal high on the production list (maize/corn, rice, wheat, or barley) or lower on the production scale (sorghum, millet, oats, rye, buckwheat, fonio, or quinoa) I'll be going for the lowest and least processed on the list.

Here's an excerpt from wikipedia on what the heck grains are:

"Cereals, grains or cereal grains, are grasses (members of the monocot families Poaceae or Gramineae)^[1] cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis) - the endocarp, germ and bran. Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple crops. In their natural form (as in whole grain), they are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and oils, and protein. However, when refined by the removal of the bran and germ, the remaining endocarp is mostly carbohydrate and lacks the majority of the other nutrients. In some developing nations, grain in the form of rice, wheat, or maize (in American terminology, corn) constitutes a majority of daily sustenance. In developed nations, cereal consumption is more moderate and varied but still substantial."

And here's the link to the wikipedia site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal

Why Paleo?

You get to eat all the lean meats, fish, and seafood you can eat!

Eat all the fruits and non-starchy vegetables you can eat!

(No cereals, legumes, dairy products, or processed foods~and I use the term food here loosely)

A few people have asked me now why I'm doing the Paleo Diet and not some other diet and today on a motorcycle ride with friends we were discussing the topic.  The reason I'm going with the Paleo diet is that it is the most basic and seems to address the other concerns of importance; namely, inflammation and pH balancing which are important to combating all the Western diet ailments including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, some cancers and autoimmune disorders. 

We rode to Buck's restaurant in Woodside, which I highly recommend.  Though, as has been true at every venue I've been to since January 1st, it's a bit challenging (not impossible) to get something Paleo.  I had one of Buck's specials. One large artichoke baken with olive oil and herbs cut in half with shrimp stuffed on one half and fresh crab in the other half, on a bed of fresh spinach.  It was absolutely delicious!

My afternoon snack was organic (from the SF farmer's market) beef jerky, walnuts, and dried fruit.  

Cheers!

Shawn

Going Paleo for 30 days

Shawn's Day 2 - No Grains, No Legumes, No Dairy, Nothing Processed .......

I realized while talking with a friend and client today that I forgot to include "No Dairy" in the heading of my first Paleo Diet posting yesterday.  I think it was because for me, dropping dairy products will be not as traumatic as grains and legumes.  Though while I was at Peet's getting latte's for my family it was challenging to order plain drip coffee (half hot water, half caff).  I packed snacks of celery, carrots, kiwi, an apple, and cheese (I know it's processed non-Paleo....but you know....just in case of emergency) for the trip to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.  If you've never been, it was quite fun!  Similar to the Campbell farmer's market but I liked that the SF market had more protein vendors, there was a grass fed sustainably grown red meet vendor, chicken and fish vendors.

At the farmer's market, only a couple of the food vendors had anything even close to fitting the Paleo plan.  One served hamburgers including buffalo burgers which would have been grand except that the only Paleo carbohydrates were pieces of lettuce to put on the processed-non-food hamburger buns.  I ended up having two organic eggs lightly scrambled with arugula and onion.  Not supposed to eat potatoes, but I had probably the equivalent of two red potatoes and did not eat any of the large piece of foccacia that was doused with butter and herbs and looking wonderfully deadly.

Went out to dinner and had clam chowder and a chopped salad with chicken and a dressing of olive oil and lemon. No bread, one glass of Pinot Noir and water.  I wouldn't make a habit of the clam chowder since it more than likely had dairy product but I don't think I could have pulled off not eating the bread and all the cheese in an onion soup.  The fam got dessert to share so, just to be polite, I had one fork of cheese cake and one of chocolate cake.

I did not add salt to anything.  This is a big deal for me.  I was a salt-aholic until last February.  I always thought that because I have always had normal blood pressure that I didn't have to worry about using too much salt.  Then in February 2009 I experienced a kidney stone and learned from our nutritionist, Diane, and since then in other readings, that salt is generally a culprit.  I didn't quit salt cold turkey (as I had quite the addiction), passed one more stone a few months later and have now stopped adding it to my food.  This is handy since salt was never used pre-Agricultural Revolution.

 

Going Paleo! Pre-Agricultural Revolution Fueling

Day One ….. No Grains ….. No Legumes ….. No Refined Sugar.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about food over the years about diet and nutrition, and particularly the last several months as a result of researching information on cancer.  It’s been quite a labyrinth sifting through the massively complicated information on nutrients and how to compound the healthy, not-so healthy and sickening components of food into a diet.  I found that I was getting lots of confusing information on what to eat when, and then was barraged by sporadic information about the foods we are eating being unhealthy in general.  What’s a person to do?  Well I guess just keep getting fatter and unhealthier, since that’s what American’s have been doing since at least the 1950’s. 

Then along came Michael Pollan.  His book, In Defense of Food, caught my eye a couple of months ago.  When I picked in up I actually thought it was going to be about justifying the foods that businesses, the FDA, and government have approved.  I think really that I was kind of secretly hoping that everything else that I’ve been reading would be proven wrong.  Hoping that I didn’t have to suspect and wonder about the quality of what I’ve been eating.  But Pollan in a very entertaining, simple yet deep way defends food, real food.  Between Pollan and several other books that I’ll talk about later, fueling a human is simply a matter of eating real versus processed industrialized food.  So let’s go Paleo.

I read The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordain, in around 2003.  The book caught my eye only because I was taking and enjoying the heck out of anthropology classes at the time.  So, rather than a “diet” book, I thought it was going to be, well, more anthropological.  Flash forward to the present and almost a year ago a couple of young trainers were talking with me about the Paleo Diet.  I’d mention that I’d read the book years ago, which I did, and remembered it as being interesting, but it didn’t stick.  I glanced at my book, complete with highlighting, and checked out a couple of web sites.

So Trainer Sergio Maldonado and I agreed to do the Paleo Diet for 30 days.  No grains (maize/corn, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, rye, triticale, buckwheat, fonio, quinoa,), no legumes, nothing processed.

Day 1 – Paleo Diet (This is going to be a challenge.)

Before 5-mile run:  8-10 oz. Purified Water, few sips of Green Tea, 5-Baby Carrots.

After 5-mile event:  16 oz. bottled water, 1-medium sized orange

About 10 or so Baby Carrots walking to coffee.

8 oz Black caffeinated Coffee with about 8 oz. hot water added.

About an hour after the event we had Breakfast:  2-eggs scrambled with Machaca (shredded beef, more than likely not grass fed), and cactus, topped with raw onions, fresh parsley, salsa, and juice from a half a lime.

Got home, read a little, worked on the blog a little and took a long nap.

Ate a few raw almonds soaked in purified water, and drank water, and had herbal tea.

For dinner I had 2-eggs scrambled with red onions and Hickory Farms beef stick (I know it’s not Paleo, but I just cannot waste money), soaked raw almonds, an orange and an apple.

Ever Run a 5 mile Event? Thinking it was a 5K ?!

Happy New Year!

A few weeks ago I found the Los Gatos Resolution Run on Active.com.  I was real excited because the venue is much prettier than the Bay Lands run that I was originally planning to do.  I figured that if we went to a friend’s New Year’s Eve invitation, we wouldn’t stay very long, like maybe midnight at the latest.  Well, I got to sleep at about 3 am, and not so gloriously got up at 8am for the 9am start time. 

I was glad that I only drank a couple of glasses of wine and that the New Years celebration meal was gluten free and mostly vegetables.  I grabbed purified water, warm green tea, and about 20 of those crazy whittled down things called “Baby Carrots” (with the more nutritious part now missing) and headed out the door.  I was actually feeling pretty darn good on 5 hours sleep once I consumed some water, tea and a few carrots!

As the race starts promptly at 9am, I’m thinking this 5K (3.2 mile run) is going to be wonderful!  And …. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll come in dead last as there was a 20-30 something year old fellow on crutches with one leg in a cast participating in the event – hard core!  I saw him again coming up at about half way up the hill as I was descending.  What determination.

At the gun shot I stick with my plan.  Run at about 95 beat per minute pace (though I didn’t bring my metronome), with no joint discomfort.  I’m not wearing a watch, heart rate monitor or music.  I’m wearing my light no-support New Balance 100 shoes.  My goal is to be in the moment, enjoying life in the scenery, and the fact that I’m in life while running and listening to my body.  My word for 2010 is “grounded.”

Everything is wonderful, rolling mounds of earth (in what turns out to be the first mile or so), beautiful weather – overcast and a slight drizzle.  My kind of running weather, of course my mantra now is that all weather is my kind of running weather ;-)  By the 1-mile marker (and there were no more markers by the way) we running on a packed dirt/gravel war-width path on a fairly gradual up hill that just keeps going.  The incline grows into a bit of a roar and then an OMG at the halfway point turn around. 

On the way back down I over hear a woman who’s wearing a GPS watch say that she and her friends have just traveled 3.7 miles on the run.  What?  I must have misunderstood as I went by them.  This is a 5K, 3.2 mile run.  I am pretty tired but I’m sure it’s just because the hill beat me up.  I have not run any hills yet since taking up running again.  Yes, I did some walking to either get the pain in my knee or foot to calm down (especially on the downhill), and because I’m not in shape yet for running hills.

I finished the event and happy that I did the event, though a bit curious that I was so tired.  But I just attributed my fatigue and mild soreness to only having 5 hours of sleep and only a few carrots to eat.  I took it easy on the down hill as running down hill was how I originally injured my right knee a hundred or so years ago. I noticed discomfort in the right knee and left foot a few times during the run which I was able to ease every time by talking my body into various aspects of Chi or Pose Running. 

I grabbed some sliced orange and a bottle of water while my partner chatted with some folks, one of whom told her that we ran 5 miles!  No wonder!  A 5K is the most I’ve run since learning Chi and Pose Running.  I crack myself up! 

 I entered my event in www.MapMyRun.com  and also confirmed the 240ft. 2-mile assent and 2-mile descent.  Yahoo! Our plan is to run this course again in 2-3 weeks.  Next stop a 10K in February! Unless I accidentally sign up for a 10 miler!