Athletic shoes, why are you breaking them in?

First off, let me say, if you aren't wearing athletic shoes to work out in I will personally find you and smack you in the head with all the love I have in my heart. Not wearing proper shoes to work out in is a quick trip to knee problems. Whether those problems come quick or later on in life depends on you but know that it will happen. So go to the shoe store and buy a pair of athletic shoes, they don't have to be expensive to be good. Brooks and Saucony make fantastic athletic shoes and they have several pairs to choose from for under $60. NOW, on to my real point of this post.
You should never have to 'break in' your athletic shoes. If you wear your shoes once and you end up with blisters or they just aren't comfortable then that is a big message they are the wrong kind of shoe for your feet. There are all types of shoes for different types of feet. You may have a foot with no arch which means you need a shoe to support that. In the reverse you may have a foot with a high arch. They make shoes for that too. Not every shoe fits every foot. Yeah that pair of Nike shoes may look pretty but they may not be right for your foot.
To find out what kind of arch you have lay down a brown bag and wet the bottom of your foot. Step on the paper bag and then lift your foot. If you see an entire foot print on the bag then you have a foot with no arch. If you see a footprint with a partial middle, then you have a foot with a 'normal' arch. If there is no middle to your print then you have a high arch. Now you know, and now you can go buy a shoe that will fit your foot. A good shoe store will also have someone on staff who can measure your foot and tell you what type of foot you have and what type of shoe you need. Again, I will say, the shoe doesn't have to be expensive to be a good shoe. Don't let them try and up-sale you on an expensive shoe.
Now go get your shoes and get back to being fit!

Any other questions or comments please e-mail me at kwxercise@gmx.com or simply leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!

Bowel habits, someone has to talk about it!

Alright let's talk about something that most people won't want to talk about but, seriously, SOMEONE has to talk about it. SO, why not let it be me? I have all kinds of conversations with my clients. As you have learned so far from reading this blog you know fitness is a very 360 degree concept. It involves much more than just working out or eating right. It takes both of them together in the right pattern for the right person for it to work. A conversation that comes up quite a bit (begrudgingly and in as low of a voice as possible might I add) is how much bathroom habits change after you start eating right and exercising. This is good! It's exactly what is supposed to happen!
I'm always shocked when I hear a client talk about how their normal habits in the bathroom are so shockingly minimal. If you aren't urinating at least twice a day it's a given you need more water. If that urine is yellow you still need more fluids throughout your day. It isn't necessary to drown yourself with water every time that you do drink fluids but just make it more of a habit to drink throughout the day. Always carry a bottle of water with you at work so it's always there and convenient. You'll find that you will drink out of it just because it's there. If you scroll through all my blog entries you will find I talk about water a lot but that is because it is so, so important.
Alright, the other bathroom habit, let's talk about it. I am floored when clients tell me they only excrete solid waste once every three days. THIS IS AWFUL! If you aren't getting rid of your solid waste at least once a day there is A LOT that needs to change. You first need to up your fiber intake which can easily be done with supplements or just eating the right whole grain foods. Second, of course, you need more fluids. This is especially true if passing solid waste is particularly difficult for you. Third, you need to start exercising regularly. This is an awesome cure for bad bowel habits. Trust me, once you start moving on a regular basis, everything inside of you will start moving as well. You know the old axiom right? Regular exercisers are just that, regular. Okay, maybe I just made that up but its true. If you have any serious questions about bad, or difficult bathroom habits your doctor is an awesome person to talk to. Any other questions you know you can always ask me. I talk about this kind of thing everyday.
Coming soon, I know I promised an article about core strength, that will come next so stay tuned!

Getting off the scale, getting a new mindset.

Alright, I'm just going to come right out and say it. I want you to walk over to that awesome new fancy scale you just bought, pick it up, walk over to your trash can, and drop it in. Oh yes, I said it. And I mean it. If you are using your scale as the end all be all means of telling whether you are getting healthier by losing weight, end it now. That is one of the most unhealthy and unreliable methods there is to telling whether you are reaching your fitness goals. You have to get the number out of your mind. The number on the scale means absolutely nothing. I can tell you this, if you are dieting and exercising the way that you should be the number on that scale just may increase. Yes ma'am, yes sir, it just may increase if you are doing everything you are supposed to be doing when looking to make long term healthy changes in your life.
Think about this, if you go from a state of never exercising or exercising sporadicaly to exercising all the time you are going to gain muscle before anything else happens. Muscle is weight, good weight, but still weight. So when you step on the scale for the first time after starting your serious exercise regimen that number is more than likely going to be more than when you started. This is normal. Think of the scale as more of a starting point. Look at your number in the beginning and let that guide you towards your goal. Once you are into your workout routine for a few months, then check it again and see where you have gotten. That's all you should ever use it for.
For my clients I find that measuring inches of extremities and waist line is a more effective approach at measuring results. Your arms are going to change shape with new muscle, same as your legs and your waist will start to get smaller. These new muscles are going to help burn the fat that you want to lose. But you first have to gain the muscle. As I said before, new muscle equals new weight.
Don't let the scale tell you whether or not you're on the right track because no matter how 'smart' your scale is it still has no idea who you are and its just programmed to give a number, a number that really, truly means nothing. Fit and Healthy comes in all different shapes and sizes. So find the shape and size that best fits your body type and get off that scale!

Eating right really is simple, just a few basic rules.

So I was sitting in the doctor's office recently to take care of my abnormally large tonsils when I found myself skimming through a magazine published by a very popular chain of gyms which I will not name here in this post but we all know the name. Well, I think we all do. ANYWAY, so I was skimming through when an article about healthy eating caught my eye. In this article I concluded that they really didn't know what they were talking about and I finished the article more confused than when I had started. So that got me wondering how many other people out there are either A) reading that article and feel like healthy eating is too hard so they said 'forget it' before even trying or B) really are clueless from the get go about what it is they should be putting in their mouths. Well here are some easy rules to follow when choosing right eating habits.

1. Do. Not. Starve. Yourself. EVER.
This one should be a no brainer, however, it is not. Women fall prey to this every single day. They have the weight they want to lose so they can fit into that perfect pair of jeans or dress for this perfect day so what do they do to get ready? They don't eat. This is stupid. Really stupid. Not only are you going to gain that weight back plus some but you have just officially made it harder for your body to lose any more weight for your future endeavors of getting a slimmer body. Starving yourself seriously screws up your metabolism. Not to mention a lot of other things. You leave yourself susceptible to all kinds of airborne viruses and germs. That's disgusting. You have to eat in order to lose weight. Yes, I will repeat it with full confidence. YOU HAVE TO EAT IN ORDER TO LOSE WEIGHT. Several small meals a day work great for training your metabolism.

2. Don't be scared of carbohydrates. Seriously.
Carbs are our friends in terms of our body's ability to effectively function throughout the day. Carbs are a ready source of fuel for our body to use in doing anything and everything that we do in a day. Especially working out. You need carbohydrates before and after your workout to get your body ready AND also to adequately recover from your workout. Recovery takes just as much effort from your body as the actual workout itself.

3. Don't skimp on your protein, regardless of your gender or goals for your body.
Proteins are the building blocks of EVERYTHING in your body. Every little cell in your body is built up of protein. All your DNA is protein. Bones are built of proteins. Muscles are built of proteins. On and on and on. As far as a carb to protein ratio it should be pretty close to this, 4:1. That's 4 carbs, 1 protein.

4. Fear not all fats.
Fats are actually needed by your body. Skipping out on all fats isn't necessarily a healthy choice in choosing your new way of eating. Every muscle you have and every organ you have is actually surrounded by a protective stretchy sac called fascia. That fascia is made up of fat. Look for omega-3s as healthy fats to add to your diet. You'll find these in fatty fish like tuna.

5. Stay hydrated.
Just because you aren't thirsty doesn't mean you don't need water. That thirst sensation is telling you that you REALLY need water because something is about to stop working effectively inside your body unless you get more. Drinking water regularly throughout your day is a really good way to keep you hydrated and everything inside of you working at its most efficient especially the organs that need fluid in order to filter out those toxins that are floating around inside of you like your liver. In terms of exercise you should be drinking well before your workout, all throughout your workout, and well after your workout. We are like plants in this sense, without water we can't live.

Breaking personal goals, each and every gym visit.

Are you the type that comes into the gym and does the same thing every time your in the gym and can't figure out why you aren't getting results? Or maybe you got results in the beginning and now can't figure out why you stopped? It's because your doing the same thing every time you come into the gym.
You shouldn't ever do the same workout two gym trips in a row. Ever. No exceptions. The whole point of working out is to confuse your muscles. If you keep doing the saaaame cardio routine or the saaaaaaame lifting routine your muscles are going to learn what you are doing and they will quickly adapt and they wont grow or your body will adapt and you won't shed any more pounds regardless of caloric expenditure. And for the love of all things workout and results STOP DOING ISOLATION EXERCISES! Your body doesn't move isometrically so you won't get great results isometrically. And no more leg days, arm days, back days, etc. etc. etc. Work your whole body in a circuit every time you come to the gym and you will get MUCH better, balanced results. This concept should make sense to everybody: The more muscles you work the harder your body works so you burn more calories and you will see desired results much more quickly. Easy concept yes?
The whole point of your workout is to set personal bests. What I mean is you should always be exercising to reach a new goal. So you should always be going harder, lifting heavier, jumping higher, reaching further, etc. If you aren't then, of course, you probably aren't seeing results or you aren't seeing the results that you think you should be seeing. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you have to increase your weight each time you visit the gym. Sometimes that increase is in reps which possibly might mean you use a little less weight. That's perfectly good! That's muscle confusion in action. That is what will give you the body you want!
Quickly I want to end this with a little lecture about your core, specifically your rectus abdominus (the ever so longed for 6 pack). Just because you see someone with a 6 pack doesn't necessarily mean they have great core strength. That definitely isn't what that means. Some of the weakest athletes I've seen in my career have the abs but don't have stability or core strength worth anything. And let's think about the magazines you see where every model and celebrity has a 6 pack, how much do you think they starved themselves the day before to look like that? A LOT of them do. Just because they 'appear' fit and healthy doesn't necessarily mean they are.
Stay tuned in the near future for a whole blog entry dedicated to nothing but the core! Everything you wanted to know and all the things you didn't even think of. Now get into the gym and show yourself your personal best!

Let's talk about that guy, the one you don't want to be.

Okay so we all know that guy who comes into the gym, drives all around the parking lot until a spot in front opens up then finally parks and goes into the gym to do nothing more than walk leisurely on the treadmill. That is the prime example of that guy. Don't be that guy. That guy is paying however much a month to come to the gym and then walk on the treadmill. That's one seriously expensive treadmill. It's costing him not only his gym dues but also gas. Not to mention, it's costing him time he could have been spending actually doing something to change his body and better his health.
Let's first talk about the treadmill. I know I've talked about it before but let's seriously break this down. The things a treadmill can be used for effectively: basic warm-up, interval training, cup holder, clothes hanger. That's it. Really. I come into the gym and I use the treadmill for 10 minutes to get my juices flowing and organize my workout. Once I get that done I hop off, forget about it, do my real total body warm-up and get into my exercises. The only time I use it for my clients is when we are doing interval training. We hop on, do 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard, repeat repeat repeat. Even with this though, I find an elliptical is a little kinder to your joints. You cannot hop on a treadmill and walk on it for 30 minutes twice or three times a week and expect that to count as your workout. That's not a workout. It's wasted time (the only time this might not apply is if you are a brand new exerciser, but even then you HAVE to push yourself). In order to change your body you have to challenge your body. If you are hell bent on using that treadmill get on it and bump up the incline, walk that hill for a few minutes, then take it easy, repeat repeat repeat. But I would much rather see you walk over to the free weights and do some lifting. Fact: An hour of weight training is a much more effective calorie burner than an hour on the treadmill.
So I just told you weight training is the way to go, what do you do with those free weights? For starters you won't pick up those weights and start doing biceps curls. That is an exercise that is a waste of time. You will get plenty of biceps work doing other exercises. Fact: Your biceps will not grow out of proportion with the other muscles in your arms. So it is absolutely pointless to isolate them and work them to fatigue. Yeah they might fill with blood like any other muscle and fill out while your doing those curls but as a long term exercise it really is time wasted. Good free weight exercises include things like a Dumbbell Push Press, Split squats, Bulgarian (Rear Foot Elevated) Split Squats, deadlifts, deadrows. Even without dumbbells a great pushing exercise is the Push Up. Lou Schuler wrote a great book with Alwyn Cosgrove called The New Rules of Lifting. I highly recommend that book for any level of exerciser whether you are new to exercise or an advanced lifter. That book has great exercises and great info. Plus Schuler has an awesome sense of humor so the book stays entertaining when most books might go dry and get boring.
So, lots of information to let sink into your brains. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know, find my e-mail on this page.

Going on a diet, quick weight loss doesn't mean results.

Clients love to argue with me about diets. First of all, if you are my client you have obviously reached out to me for advice and motivation concerning weight loss and fitness so don't argue with me about the advice I give you. Second of all, I would never give you advice to sabotage your well being. That goes against everything I stand for as a Fitness Coach. Almost every client I have ever had has told me a story about how they went on this diet and lost all this weight a year ago and have since then gained it all back and then some. Well, let's back up a second. If you went on the diet to lose weight but have actually gained weight, I would call that diet a failure. So whatever diet that was throw it in the trash. This is where people love to argue with me. They say but I did lose weight in the beginning.
Stop.
Getting healthy and fit is all about long term life changes. Diets that make you fluctuate in weight (by fluctuate I mean lose a couple of pounds, gain them back, lose it, gain one pound, plateau, start all over) is not a healthy diet. You have to find that balance of exercise and proportionate eating that works for your body. It isn't a one size fits all kind of thing. What works for your friend or neighbor or that guy on TV that lost 100 pounds on the blah-blah-blah diet may not work for you and that's fine.
Getting healthy isn't ever going to be quick and easy. If it was everyone would be an ideal weight and eating the right foods everyday. I do promise you this though, the effort that you put into it will definitely be worth the outcome. Finding the right balance now will save you hundreds or maybe thousands on preventable hospital bills later on in life.
A couple of diets I do recommend has been put out by Fitness Quest and Rachel Cosgrove. Definitely check those out they may give you a good place to start.