Thanksgiving is over, maximize your gym time

Lots of people spend countless hours in the gym just to make short progress and quickly hit that “plateau.” Or, they join a gym and really don’t have any idea what to do next. They end up walking straight to the cardio equipment, try to eat less and again, quickly hit that plateau. It’s very frustrating walking into a gym and seeing the outside of the gym (where all the cardio equipment is) absolutely full. I look in the middle of the gym and all I see is one or two people. Usually, in the many gyms I walk into, those people are the leanest in the gym. People that aren’t so lean are on the outside on the cardio machines. Why is this? It’s people implementing the correct information. Four basic, but crucial, components must be working synergistically for you in order for you to maximize your time and money that you are spending on the gym. Accountability • You need a coach. Everyone needs a coach, the experienced bodybuilder to the middle aged female that’s never lifted a weight in her life. Just like everything else in life, you need guidance. A football team would be lost without a coach, successful business people have had a mentor or coach. To have success, you need a coach. There is an overwhelming amount of information that coaches/trainers spend years and lots of money on learning and perfecting. Let the coaches/trainers help you and give you the information you need instead of spending all the time yourself to find the correct information. The YMCA has a very experienced Director of Fitness in Rhonda Robson and several other trainers. Performance Training Solutions has expanded into several other gyms in the Des Moines area so they are no longer operating out of the Newton Anytime Fitness. However, they do have a past PTS client as their trainer. Leslie is a good coach and all of her clients love working with her. I also believe the hospital has programs. I have an online program people all around the country can join and learn what information to implement. Call around and find one you can work with. Everyone needs a coach. Progressive Full Body Strength routine • Muscle burns fat. Every pound of lean muscle burns 35 to 50 calories. This is our metabolism. We’re not all blessed with the same metabolism, but we can control this. With our strength training workouts and nutrition, we can skyrocket our metabolism. Do workouts that contain exercises for all body parts. Don’t ignore legs, don’t ignore shoulders or anything else. Do compound exercises (exercises working multiple muscles at one time) to save time and get workouts done in 30 minutes or less. Don’t waste time on doing a lot of crunches — core work does not eliminate belly fat. The full body workouts and nutrition do that. The most important thing is to change your routine every three to four weeks. Our bodies adapt fast, you don’t want your body adapting to your workouts or you will be working longer and harder to get the same benefit you were getting when you first did the workout. Interval Cardio • Avoid the long, slow cardio. Again, our bodies adapt fast. As your heart and lungs get stronger and you get “endurance” you have to run, walk or jog longer just to get the same benefit. You don’t build muscle doing cardio. In fact, doing cardio for a long period of time actually eats your muscle away and keeps fat for energy. Look at a picture of a marathon runner and compare it to a picture of a sprinter. Who is leaner and stronger? The sprinter, obviously, is burning fat not muscle. The most efficient way to exercise is to do it in a manner that you are not only burning fat for that 30 to 45 minutes you are in the gym, but the other 23 hours as well. This is done with interval cardio, full body strength programs and supportive nutrition. Supportive nutrition • You must fuel your body enough. Most people don’t eat enough. Yes, I said it, you are probably not eating enough. The most successful and healthiest way to live and to always be burning fat and building muscle is to eat five to six small meals and get a balance of protein and carbs. You need carbs — so don’t cut them out or be scared of them. They are our energy source. You need protein — it repairs and builds muscle tissue. Don’t believe anyone who just tells you that you need “x” amount of calories. You will fail. It matters where our calories come from. A protein calorie is processed differently than a carb calorie is processed differently than a fat calorie. Also, there are many factors that go into finding out how many calories you should be taking in. Most weight-loss centers will use your height, age and weight and based off their charts, give you a target calorie amount. They are wrong and you will fail. Think about it, a UPS driver is going to burn more energy than someone who sits at a desk all day. Even if they are the same weight, are the same age and height, will they require the same amount of fuel? Absolutely not, but weight loss centers don’t pay attention to this. Take any one of these four components out and you will struggle to reach your goals, you will hit your plateau and yo-yo until you finally give up. I see it every single day, people trying to do it themselves and three months later we stop seeing them at the gym. Get a coach, do strength training, avoid long slow cardio and get enough fuel. Contact me at ryan@ptsfit.com for further discussion. Thank you to all those who called and emailed about Maximized Living in the last column I wrote. As you already know, you have made the best choice of your life and are taking action.