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Hello everyone,
Check out these exercises that not everyone might know the form of.
This is not an exercise program, but rather a compilation of various exercises and how to do them.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Michael
Some claim forefoot running is the best way to run; some say midfoot running or heel striking is the best. There are names like Qui-Running or Pose-RUnning out there. You will find people who promote one running technique over the other and all have science backing them up.
The question is, who is wrong. This is more difficult to answer than you would think. Looking at it from a standpoint of running barefoot, which is the most natural form of running we would be more likely forefoot to midfoot strikers, since this way of running takes away the pounding on the heel.
You can try that in your own backyard and on gravel; you will find yourself quickly on the balls of your feet / midfoot.
Dr. Romanov, the inventor of POse running, is a strong advocate for runners to run on the forefoot / midfoot. Noakes who did a study on Pose running with him warns though against an increased strain on the Achilees tendon and says he won’t recommend Pose running until a long term study has been conducted.
This is exactly the point that we need to look into. Forefoot / midfoot running decreases the impact on the knee joint by up to 60% but the impact has to go somewhere. It will end up in the Achilles tendons and Calves. These tendons are the strongest tendons in our bodies bu t a sudden overload can lead to tendonitis and eventual tearing.
To confuse us even more we have to consider teh speed factor as well. A slower runner will always strike a little bit more back on the foot while a faster runner will shift the contact more foreward.
If you consider changing your running style you will need to scale back your current mileage considerably. It will take weeks for the calf muscles and Achilles tendons to adapt and a temporary loss in speed and localized muscle endurance is inevitable.
The change of running styles might be a good investment into your health or your performance but it has to be done carefully and best be done with the help of a trained professional. Running coaches, triathlon coaches, personal trainers can be of help here.
Another consideration if you change your running are shoes. Make sure to consult with a local running store that can help you pick the right shoe for the altered strike. Most running shoes have a really think heel cushion which makes it almost more difficult to learn the new technique. The five finger shoes seem to fit nicely into the new category. I will still have to try them out and will do so after my marathon. I am sure not changing shoes a week before the race.
There are plenty of exercises to do before you actually change your running style in the off season to prepare the muscles for the change in running. Practicing on soft surfaces like gras and dirt can also help to reduce the initial strain on the Achilles tendon.
Having said all this, do I recommend changing the heel strike style some of my clients have to a forefoot / midfoot running style?
Yes and no, it really depends on teh goals and needs of the person. If my client has a history of knee pain, a proprioceptive training in combination witha change in running style might be indicated; the same for someone who wants to increase their speed but is plateauing at the moment despite changes in the training. Biomechanics are an integral part of proper training.
If my client is a hobby runner who enjoys his running, is not concerned about his time and has no issues I might be inclined to leave his running style alone.
Coordination also plays a role in my considerations.If the person has a poorly developed coordination the transformation process has to be slow to prevent injury due to faulty technique.
For me personally changing my running from heel strike to midfoot striking has improved my running speed and lessened my injuries. It took me a good while to get there though and only proper training and cross training made it possible. Don’t expect to be good at it right away. It takes time. The big test for me will be the coming marathon here in Charlotte on December 12th.
Have a fit and healthy day, and enjoy your running!
Michael Anders
Arendse, REgan et al (2004). REduced eccentric loading of the Knee with the Pose Running Technique. http://www.posetech.com/library/dr-02-04-004.html
Friel, Joe (2004). The Triathlete’s Training Bible (2nd Ed.) Velo press.
Hay, James G. (1993) The Biomechanics of Sports Techniques (4th Ed.) Prentice Hall.
Pribut, STeven (2002) Running Style. http://www.aapsm.org/ct0102.htm
Okay, are you not tired of training your butt off and still looking the same way? I sure know that most of my clients seem to be when they come to me the first time. They are all fired up about getting finally what they want…or so it seems.
But I realized quickly that there are two kinds of people, the ones that love the thought of looking good and succeeding and the ones who are actually doing something about it.
It is your choice who you are. It does not matter what the goals are, you have to be committed to them, may they be your job, your family or fitness.
Disappointed? Too bad, but here is what you need to be doing. I looked at my clients the other day, at the ones that succeed with their goals and the ones that fail. Don’t let any personal trainer fool you, some do fail.
Success
- Consistency: You will succeed in anything that you are consistent in. Yeah, newsflash, not the most talented but the most persistent person will succeed. Tell your personal trainer how much time you really can invest and he will create a plan accordingly.
- Passion: Don’t just do what you do because you have to. Find passion in your doing! People who come to me who have found the love for exercising are more likely to succeed. Find something you like doing, like dancing, running, biking, weight lifting, martial arts, etc.
- Hard work: I work my clients hard within their personal limits. I don’t train them the way I train, their training is customized to their needs. If they are willing to do it and push themselves, they will succeed. You will train harder with a buddy or trainer than alone.
- Priority: They make their goals their priority in life. Yes, they are sick, they have bad days and good days, but they don’t keep making excuses, they do it, because they really want to succeed! When they have to take off because of sickness, they get right back on it. It is hard to be good at everything if you spread yourself too thin in life, have too many responsibilities. How do you expect to succeed?
- Intelligence: Given, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist, but whatever made some people think they could go to the gym and work out like they did 10-20 years ago and not hurt themselves? Be smart, listen to your body and gently lead it to success. Research the newest training science (and I am not talking of some trashy fitness magazine promoting tons of questionable supplements) or consult a qualified personal trainer.
- Results in themselves are motivation for more results. So make sure you follow every necessary aspect to ensure your success. Usually results for any athlete are connected to training, nutrition and lifestyle.
We have many programs that may fit your needs and help you reach your goals. One on One Personal Training, Small Group Personal Training (an excellent way of training with your friends, saving money and having a blast).
I wish you success, health and fitness,
Michael Anders
A lot of us do are bicyclists, runners, triathletes or other athletes (soccer, basketball, etc) of some kind that have more sustained efforts as competitions and are highly dependent on glycogen (carbohydrate) stores.
This is a prerace countdown and it will need some modifications for various sports.
Day 7
- it is the time for one completely exhaustive workout
- focus on the week areas, go through all areas that are important and don’t be timid
- drink plenty during the workout and following the workout.
- consume 400 calories of carbs followed by 800 over the next several hours
Day 6
- tapered exercise starts (in endurance sports it often starts two weeks prior to the competition)
- 75-80% Carb intake, 10 % protein and 10 % fat
- total energy intake should be adapted to the reduced workout day.
- Activities are either reduced by time or intensity or both
Day 5
- still maintain a consistently high carbohydrate intake
- reduce intensity and duration of your exercise even more
- the activity should be definitely less than what you are used to
Day 4
- time to finalize your race / competition strategies
- your training should focus on the key elements of your special skills, but with emphasis on keeping your from becoming exhausted
- protein intake is increased up to max. 2g / kg body weight to ensure all tissue repairs are taken care of and to improve creatine prodcution.
Day 3
- low to moderate exercise intenisty
- high carb intake (65%)
- reduce other activities to put emphasis on recovery and relaxation
- no exhaustion, overheating etc.
Day 2
- no more morning training schedule
- reduce the afternoon training schedule if you are a professional athlete
- the focus is on reviewing skill and working on the mental strategy
- carb intake 65%
Day 1
- plenty of rest
- no full routines, full speed runs, etc.
- walk part of the course, get familiar with the competition venue
- avoid watching opponents and focus on watching videos of your own success
Competition Day
- plan everything
- have a backup plan for things that can go wrong
- don’t change your eating habits to something you have not done before
This is quite general and certain sports will need an adaptation, but it gives you a general idea on what to do.
Let me know if you have any questions
Have a fit and healthy day, make it happen now!
Michael Anders
Source: Benardot, Dan (2006). Advanced Sports Nutrition – Fine-tune your food and fluid intake for optimal training and performance. Human Kinetics.
A lot of people take vitamins. Physical active people even more, some take doses of 10 to 10 000 times the Recommended Daily Intake (RDA) hoping to supercharge their body. Especially now in the winter time people are often taking vitamin C like candy.
What people need to understand that excess vitamins behave as chemicals in our body.
Megadoses of vitamin C can precipitate gout in persons predisposed to it. Some ethnic groups also have a genetic metabolic deficiency that transforms to hemolytic anemia with excessive vitamin C intake. Irritable bowl can also happen and leads to diarrhea. Against common believe excessive intake of vitamin C does not protect from Upper Respiratory Infections.
So what is the actual RDA for Vitamin C?
Adult Males: 90 mg/day
Adult Females: 75 mg/day
Recommended Intake for Athletes: 200 mg/day (ranges up to 500 mg)
The best sources for vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables.
Try to get as much fresh food as possible. I know we are in a pill popping society but supplements are not a replacement for a healthy diet.
Have a fit and healthy day,
Michael Anders
http:/www.shapeupfitnesswellness.com
Sources used:
Bernardot, Dan (2006) Advanced Sports Nutrition – Fine tune your food and fluid intake for
optimal training and performance. Human Kinetics.
Clark, Nancy (2008) Sports Nutrition Guidebook (4th Edition). Human Kinetics.
Mc Ardle, William D. et. al Exercise Physiology – Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance (6th
Edition). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
You might not believe it, but you are not the only person to be really heavy. If you way 200 lbs or 400 lbs, or somewhere in between. It does not matter.
If you want to look the way you should like, you deserve to look like you need to get it started NOW!
What to do!
- Start to be more active. Walk at least 10 000 steps/day. Get a good pedometer, costs you around $15-30.
- In the commercial breaks of your favorite TV show or sports, do crunches, squats, push ups against the wall (if regular / knee push ups are too difficult
- A bicyclist I know, phrased it really well: in her blog she said: Do more than zero, every day. Get started and do something for at least 10 min if you don’t feel like it. After 10 min reevaluate and do more if you want to.
- Recognize the eater in you: junk food (cut it down), portions (use smaller plates), emotional eater (put your emotions into motion) and address the underlying issues
- Sign up to forums that have similar goals to yours.
- Grab a personal trainer, even if it is just for a couple of weeks. A good one is going to write you a training plan and show you exactly what to do.
This is just a quick update.
Ask away if you have any questions.
Michael Anders
Here we have another killer workout. This is not a workout to boost your metabolism like crazy, like the other one, although the workout in itself is pretty damn intense and kicks major butt. There are no breaks between the supersets. You keep going from one to the other. The focus here is clearly strength / endurance. The heart rate won’t go up as high but believe me when I say, at the end you will ask, who is done with who, the workout with me, or me with the workout?
Here is what you do:
Combo 1
Squat + Kettlebell Swing, switch arms at the top (3-4 x 20)
Dips on bench with feet on a medicine ball (3-4 x 20)
Rest 30 sec
Combo 2
DB Squats + Biceps Curls, going into a Front Press, check out the video (3-4 x 20)
Chin Up Assists (3-4 x 20)
Rest 30 sec
Combo 3
Push Up Pank + Cable Row (3-4 x 20)
Lateral Arm Raises (3-4 x 20)
Rest 30 sec
Combo 4
Push Up / Tuck in one knee (3-4 x 20)
Dead Bug (3-4 x 60 sec)
Stretch
Have a great workout and let me know if you have any questions.
Yours truly,
Michael Anders
Okay, here is the thing, I am a chocolate addict! Don’t believe me? You better, because let alone today i consumed roughly 800 kcal in chocolate, piece of cake, ah I mean chocolate. How do I know that? Because I logged it into my favorite free food logging website http://www.411fit.com/. My eyes got bigger and bigger as I logged everything that I ate today.
I hear my clients say every day, I just cheated one day. Most of the time that is not true, because you cheat once, you will cheat again, it is easy, especially if food is your addiction. What you need to do is, write down what you eat, maybe not necessarily the calories, but at least what you had. It will open your eyes and forbid you to stick your head into the sand and pretend it did not happen.
I had 1700 kcal today, 2000 was my goal and we don’t even have 5.00 pm. I can start throwing my goal out of the window or I decide to at least have a maintenance day. That is what I am aiming for since, I don’t really need to lose any weight.
Things you need to do:
- If you have a bad day, don’t make it worse by pretending it did not happen or throw in the towel, be honest to yourself!
- Write down what you had and decide consciously how you want the day to end.
- Drink plenty of water to wash out the taste of your “crave food” out of your mouth.
- Make healthy choices for the remainder of the day, because the longer you stay off of it, the harder it will be to get back on it.
- Don’t beat yourself up about overeating / pigging out, it won’t change it and just force you to eat more junk if you are an emotional eater, just accept it, enjoy it and move on (sometimes easier said than done)
- If you have some time to exercise, throw in some training (look at my former post for a short but highly effective workout.
- If you already had your workout, go for a walk or play with your kids, your dogs, play some Wii fit, be active.
This just came to my mind, and I hope some of it find it helpful.
Have a fit and healthy day!
Michael Anders
People always think they need tons of time to workout. Good news for you. That is not necessary. All we need is about 20-30 min. That can give you a killer workout and you know for sure you did something. Don’t believe it?
I will put a video on here later of me doing a workout with nothing but minimal equipment for 20 min that gets your heart going and your muscles burning.
The key is to rev up your metabolism like crazy, do some running, jumping and then mix in some powerful whole body exercises in there to get your muscles all fired up.
The result are phenomenal lost body fat, and super toned abs. I use that kind of workout all the time with my personal training clients that want to lose weight and tone up. Guess what? They all say they don’t have enough time. This is what you can do and it will kick your butt for sure. You can do it at home, heck even at work!
Ask top personal trainers around the world they will use similar kind of methods, because it works!
Equipment needed: Rubber Bands or DB, Mat
Warm Up (5 min, gradually increase the intensity) Run on the spot, Jumping Jacks, shadow box, throw some high knees and or kick (not too high though, don’t want to hurt yourself)
After 5 min we rock and roll:
Combo 1 (2-3) x
- 30 sec of running on the spot with increasing speed
- Bent over Row x 15
Combo 2 (2-3) x
- (Jumping Jacks, front and side)
- Push Ups x 15
Combo 3 (2-3) x
- Lunge Jumps (don’t jump or do squats if you have trouble with knees)
- Shadow boxing (2 strike combo) + leg switch
Combo 4 (2-3) x
- Burpees 30 sec
- Biceps Curls x 15
Combo 5 (2-3) x
- Plank 30 sec
- Diagonal Crunch for 30 sec
Cool Down Stretch for 5 min
This is a great workout that can be done literally everywhere. The fitter you get the more you can use advanced exercises. Let me know if you have any questions.
Yours truly,
Michael Anders
Owner
Shape Up Fitness & Wellness Consulting, the Leader In Personal Training In Charlotte.
Hello everyone,
“I want to lose the weight that I gained after college, kids, etc.” I have heard it so many times. I also have heard the excuses and reasons why it does not work, why they cannot lose the weight. I’ll tell my clients to stop right there and look at themselves in every way. They are unhappy, they are not fit and their eating is bad to horrible.
I am proud of the members of 411fit.com to commit to their goals. They are important, at least as important as what your spouse wants / needs.
Take yourself and your goals more seriously.
It is easy to fall of the wagon. When we were kids we had parents tell us what we have to do, now as adults we don’t have that. We can do whatever we want to, whenever we want it.
Don’t starve yourself, don’t become a social hermit because you have to exercise 7 days a week, 3 hours a day. You don’t have to do these things but you have to commit!
You have to commit to setting yourself boundaries, boundaries on how much of the “good stuff” you are going to have, how much TV you watch, you are your own parent now.
I have seen people doing great in training and still not lose weight. They have a trainer setting them boundaries, but nobody who prevents them from putting the food into their mouth.
This website has helped tremendously with adherence to a well balanced nutrition, but again YOU need to do it. Commit to your own success, to your own transformation.
So many times I have people not eat the foods they like and do great for a couple of weeks, then bam, cravings hit and it is all over. Allow yourself what you like, but set boundaries and be honest when you log it.
Living a healthy life does not work only 5 days a week! You are not going to work! You are committing to a new you. A new you does not mean to be a food nazi, or an exercise maniac.
My wife who by the way hated exercise (ironic since she married a trainer) complained many times to me that she was not losing weight. I mentioned (carefully and afraid of the wrath of doom) that a little exercise would be beneficial, 30 min a day for most days a week. Grudgingly she started to exercise. Then she complained she was still not losing weight (all the while shoving gum balls in her mouth). I cringed, because I did not want to be the trainer at home (I wanted to stay married). I decided to tell her that watching her diet would be the next step……silence…..(I was preparing for the life-ending hit over the head, it never came and I am still married 🙂 )
She started to watch her eating and slowly dropped weight. She now has lost 20 lbs and is fitter than she has ever been, she enjoys showing me her “guns” and her “steel hard abs” . I have never seen her happier and more excited. She still eats all the things she liked but she reduced the intake of it considerably. She started to exercise but did not go nuts about it.
If my wife who hated exercise and loved junk food can make that transformation, so can you. Commit, commit, commit. Let me be there to help you. Never dispair, there is always a solution.
Distance yourself from friends who pull you down, because those are not friends.
Michael Anders
