C.C. Training

St. George has so much to offer and now we can add a new seminar to our list. Join the IMA Team for what we anticipate to be quite an event.

  Do you have a dietary vice? In the nutrition realm what is really considered “bad”? I have heard a myriad of different things over the years, “I only NEED to drink one Coke a day.” or “I eat really well, I only consume 800 calories a day, from Mc. Donald’s” or even “I do pretty well during the day but right before bed I usually have a couple pints of ice cream or a glass of wine as a night cap.”. The list is endless of things that people consider small dietary hindrances or major nutrition set backs. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  ANYTHING can be addictive, all things in moderation, and if you can’t find what you want to ingest in nature it likely is not “good” for you.

Of course there are varying degrees of all these categories such as sugar and heroin stimulate high levels of dopamine and opioid production making them considerably more addictive than say carrots. And of course just because you can find something naturally occurring in nature doesn’t necessarily mean you should go around eating it. And so on and so forth, but if you seem to still be having trouble with your eating habits you may consider looking at food in a different light. As a personal trainer I look at food as a fuel source to accomplish the task at hand, whatever it may be. That means, if I am wanting to eat something that is not part of the remaining nutrients I need for the day then I make a choice:  eat the food knowing that if its not part of the solution it is indeed part of the problem, PERIOD. Or I may choose to not put the waste into my machine and fuel it with quality and required nutrition to get the results I want. If your not sure which category your desired food fits into please refer to the simple suggestions and primitive guidelines previously listed or read back through the nutrition section of this blog. There are foods that are widely considered benign or neutral as far as damaging to your dietary goals. That does NOT mean that they have a positive effect either. If the majority of your calories comes from the “neutral” category, you will indeed begin to suffer some consequences of your choices. We live in a day and age where there is rarely a need for “fillers” in our diet. If you are suffering from obesity chances are its not because of famine or lack of resource. Recent studies have even suggested that your chances of living longer are much higher if you consume less than the recommended caloric intake compared to if you choose to consume more. By eating only the foods that contain the nutrients that you need for optimal function I guarantee you will meet your required daily caloric intake sans any “extras”.

Bottom line, your body is indeed a miracle but its not magical. If you put garbage in you will get garbage out, figuratively and literally.  If you can’t seem to stop giving excuses or stop mindlessly eating you may consider that you need professional help. Food can be just as dangerous as other addictions. Try seeing a nutritionist or join a local group to help you combat your trial. And although its widely acceptable now a day to justify and even encourage this glutinous behavior it can be a very very big problem, again figuratively and quite literally. Take control and make your choice, and best of luck sticking with that choice through the holiday season.

Choose to have a healthy and happy holiday.

Vibration training isn’t exactly something new to fitness but it has in fact come a long way and the research to support it is following close behind.  There has been claims that vibration training will:  improve cellular oxygen circulation, assist in cellular waste movement and stimulate cellular nutrient intake, balance hormones, increase collagen and so on. To my knowledge none of these claims have been tested or proved results in a simple research study. What has been studied throughout the years is the direct effect it has on type two/fast twitch muscle fibers, thereby increasing explosive power.  Also its positive effect on lean tissue,  providing equivalent effects as weight training. Ergo increasing resting metabolic rates, decreasing adipose tissue,  increase muscle mass, and an increase in bone density. How does this effect your current training? This may potentially provide an extra resource to help give your joints a well needed break from overuse.

Repetitive and excessive use of any part of our body can have negative long term effects;  including weight training. Cross training, varied exercise, and intermittent scheduled monthly or quarterly breaks from specific training can help alleviate over wear and tear to individual joints and muscles by allowing them to fully heal and rest before resuming to be put under constant stress.

Obviously, there is still more research to be done on vibration training and a need to view its long term effects. But it would seem that the proven benefits do offer something new you may want to implement into your current routine to add some spice and alleviate overuse while gaining similar desired effects.

I myself am not an avid runner. Like most athletes who don’t specialize in running I do it only when required. But as a fitness trainer I am fortunate enough to get exposed to many of the running phenomenas and trends. At the peak of the running industry right now seems to be the minimalist running shoe or barefoot running. Who’d of thought that any part of the fitness industry would begin minimizing? But alas sales continue to skyrocket throughout the shoe industry.

So, you have decided you’d like to give minimalist running a try, surely after reading either C. McDougall or Ken Bob’s book on the subject, but just don’t know what your options are. Here’s a brief overview of what you may be on the hunt for:

Saucony-Hattori
Brooks-Green Silence, and the T7 Racer
Vibram FiveFingers—Bikila
New Balance-NB Minimus Road and Minimus Trail
K-Swiss -Blade-Light Race and Blade-Light Run
Adidas-Clima Cool Ride model
Mizuno-Wave Profecy
Zoot Sports for the minimalist triathlete

Of course companies around the world are coming out with new ideas quarterly and therefor you need to be sure to keep up if you don’t want to fall behind the trend race. Check out your local running store and they’ll help you find which shoe will best suit your trend and fitness needs.

Happy running!

 Fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, dextrose, glucose;  what’s the difference? Imitation sugars or sugar substitutes are continuing to gain popularity, but why? The world is still getting fatter even with new information and education, how can this be? Welcome to the controversy of the decade.

Leading expert, Dr. Robert Lustig, specialist in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, presented a lecture titled “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” if your not into nutrition or health this may be considered devastatingly boring but because of the raw, relentless, and unabashed information and research it provided it has been viewed upward of 1,569,363 times on Youtube alone.

Lustig describes fructose/sucrose as being bad because: they don’t suppress the chemical ghrelin, they do not stimulate insulin or leptin and because of their Hepatic effects which he liked unto ethanol consumption. During his 90 minute lecture he actually listed several points to consider when deciding on whether or not to consume these sugars. All good points, but far too many to list here. His bottom line boils down to this:  fructose is nothing short of a poison, period. Most of the research presented in the lecture was not new information. We all have heard that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is bad and that sugars are not healthy, duh. However, I personally don’t think that people realize how bad it really is and how much of it your actually consuming. He really puts this into perspective, perhaps a bit over the top for some nutritionists, but I hope it terrifies people into considering what they are stuffing in their faces.

It seems that there are far too many rules to consider when eating and exercising. I like to try and put things as simply as possible and provide easy references for people to think about when making those choices.  That being said, I don’t feel that you, the average consumer, need to memorize all the sugars, how they are metabolized and stored, and what foods they are found in. I do however feel that the benefit of label reading is still going to do you some good. Take a moment and see if the ingredients contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn syrup, sugar, or artificial sweeteners in the first 8 ingredients. If one of those is listed in the first 8 ingredients I highly recommend that you put it back on the shelf. Read the nutritional facts and see how many grams of sugar there are per serving, think about how many servings your actually going to consume, and if that total sugar intake exceeds 15 grams and you plan to eat something else that day or if you have eaten already then I highly recommend that you put it back on the shelf. Perhaps you want to try and think a little for yourself, try keeping this on hand for reference:  If what your about to eat does not occur naturally in nature without allot of chemical or molecular alteration consider not eating it.  If what you would like to eat does occur or grow naturally in nature then use common sense and caution when choosing which ones you are supposed to eat.  And of course as I tend to say often use moderation to know when enough is enough. Just because something is there and within reach doesn’t necessarily mean you “need” to eat it.

As a nation we are still eating ourselves into sickness and death. Anything can be used as an addictive substance;  including food. It seems there is a negative spin on virtually EVERYTHING we have in our diet. “The war against sugar” being one of them. Perhaps this is a good time to consider all the things that are good for us, taste good and make us feel good. A juicy peach from the neighbors orchard, dripping with fructose has enough fiber and vitamins in it to help things metabolize appropriately in the body. So indulge in one and enjoy the sweetness mother nature has to offer;  and then allow someone else to finish eating the orchard. Be aware of what your fueling your body with and what that translates into over the long term. Good luck.

  Lower your risk of gestational diabetes, decrease stress, body aches, and fatigue while pregnant just by doing prenatal exercise! Who knew it could be so easy to help yourself prior to, during and post delivery? If you were active prior to becoming pregnant you did you and your baby a great service. Now you can continue to be active throughout the pregnancy and enhance your delivery and postpartum experience. Of course some modifications are required but  you might be surprised with all the options you have available to you because you maintained a healthy body up to this point. If you were not physically active prior to becoming pregnant all is not lost. You can still do low impact activities like walking, pool exercises or swimming (if you can swim already) throughout your entire pregnancy!
Of course prior to beginning any exercise regimen you should consult your physician but here are some guidelines to help you through your active pregnancy:

• Listen to your body! If something hurts, if you feel faint, if you have shortness of breath, or uterine contractions STOP whatever your doing! If your body or baby is displaying discomfort its best not to push any further and consider discontinuing that exercise.
• Drink plenty of water while at rest and while exercising.
• Make sure that your fueling your body with the proper nutrients to maintain this over strenuous physical exertion in combination with creating life;  its kind of a big deal and your body needs all those vitamins, minerals and macro/micronutrients it can get! Now is not the time to start a strict weight loss diet. That being said, just because your “eating for two” remember that the other person is a 300 calorie a day baby not a linebacker for the Raiders. Moderation ladies!
• Wear comfortable clothing that breathes well. And be sure and wear a bra with lots of support to help protect your breasts.

Cautions or things to avoid when exercising while pregnant:

• Heart rate exceeding 70% of your maximum heart rate.
• Holding your breath.
• Contact sports, jarring activities, or exercises where falling is possible. Activities that require balance and nimble movements are also considered risky because of the lax in ligaments and impaired coordination while pregnant.
• Exercises that may decrease or cut off blood supply to you or baby. Or that may make you dizzy. The aorta is working overtime now and may have allot of pressure on it in certain positions (like laying on your back or bending over with straight legs). Avoid these positions when at all possible especially after the first trimester.
• Starting a new sport or exercise regimen. Now is not the time to challenge yourself physically or mentally, your body is under tremendous stress already and the risks associated are not worth the payoff. Stick with what you know for now and you and baby can learn new activities once they arrive!

In short, if you just listen closely to what your body is telling you you should experience what your supposed to experience. Its not a party for most women but you are a very important part of  the circle of life so why not make the best of it for you and for your baby.
When the time comes, Congratulations!

The fitness industry is not a whole lot different than most of the pop industries out there today. Consistently changing, always looking for the bigger, better, and most trendy thing to hit main stream by storm. How can we as exercise enthusiasts possibly keep up? Whats hip today is so “yesterday” by tomorrow. What used to be more than enough is not even considered bare minimum by the glutinous consumerism of the now.
Lets take yoga for example. Yoga has been practiced since the third millennium and up until just recently (the past 10 years or so) it had only changed and evolved within itself. Now its like cranberries in juice;  people are mixing it with virtually everything! Yoga and pilates, Yoga and kickboxing, Yoga and Qigong, dance, weight training, Tai chi….the list is seemingly endless. And this is just one discipline.
I myself am a sport and martial art practitioner and understand the importance of evolution and continuing education of a sport or discipline, but doesn’t this seem a bit excessive? Things are changing so much so fast that it feels as though we are losing some of the roots and history of these teachings. The implications feel a bit commercialized and trivialized;  this once thought of lifetime learning is no longer enough for the fast paced lifestyle of today. Is that the case? Something that was once practiced relentlessly day in and out for centuries or even a lifetime is now so “simple” that it needs to be added to to even make it digestible for a one to two hour a week training session? Honestly, it seems kind of ridiculous. Integrated concurrent exercise defiantly has its benefits and the time pay off is unmatchable, but as one love-for-fitness person to the other we are much more than fueled machines. Cognitive override, feelings, history in conjunction with the ability to choose all separate us from our primal brothers. Having meaning and finding balance in our teachings and training regimens is just as important as the aesthetic and clock driven outcomes of those practices. Think about what your doing. LIVE an active meaningful life instead of just going through the motions for the immediate outcome and I guarantee you’ll feel and look your best.
Life is a competition;  conquer it!-”Coach” Cathleen

The dreaded carbohydrate is receiving a pretty bad rap in the diet industry today. Why is this? Could it possibly be because more than 80% of most Americans diets consist of greasy, processed/refined carbs? Put simply, carbohydrates are NOT bad. They are an essential nutrient that is required for fuel and function;  that is why its called an “essential nutrient”.  Choosing good carbohydrates can be difficult for some, which is why I’m going to lay out a few rules and ideas for you to follow so you can implement them into your diet accordingly.
How do you decide if what your about to eat is a good or bad carb? Thats easy, just ask yourself a few questions. Does it fall under a sugar, starch, or fiber, have allot of calories, have a low glycemic index, a low glycemic load, have a high thermic effect, is it a complex or simple carb? You will inevitably respond to most of these questions with “I have no freakin idea what any of that even means.”.  And for the layman there isn’t really a need to know what all of it means. But unless your going to memorize lists of foods that are “good” for you, you had best set some simple guidelines to abide by.

1. Choose whole grains, raw fruits, vegetables, and other unrefined/intact carbs.
2. Avoid processed/man made, greasy, sugary, and starchy foods.
3. Try to consume around 25 grams of fiber per day (soluble and/or insoluble) from your whole carbs.
4. Try to implement more legumes, beans, nuts and seeds into your diet.

The phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals found in carbohydrates are important for a balanced and healthy diet. Some predominately high carb foods also contain protein and good fats as well.  Which is helpful to create a well balanced eating regimen.
In short, there is no need to fear carbohydrates, but rather recognize the need for moderation and balance in all things. By using these guidelines you will be able to accomplish just that. Read the nutritional facts and educate yourself on what works well with your body and lifestyle.

It may feel as though your trying to mix water and oil when finding a balance between your aerobic and weight lifting exercises, but as it turns out there IS a “surfactant” for your unmixable dilemma after all!

As with all fitness projects, make sure that you start by defining your exercise goal. Do you want to build muscle mass? Looking to slim down? Are you just trying to have better all around health? Looking back at your goal, consider how much time you are realistically willing to sacrifice toward the success of that goal.

Now, what detailed plan do you have in place to accomplish that goal? …here starts the tricky part! Don’t worry, I’ll lay out a few rules of thumb to follow that may help guide you in the right direction in your concurrent and weekly training.

The most common scenario is, you’d like to get in shape and be a little healthier. For this circumstance, doing your aerobic activity prior to your weight lifting is recommended. Current research shows that by doing your cardio first your VO2max improvement is 30 percent greater compared to doing resistance training at the beginning of your workout. (Chtara et al., 2005)

By following this suggested routine you’ll burn more calories because of the high energy expenditure associated with aerobic exercises and still be gaining the benefits of doing weight bearing exercises. This win-win situation has yet one more benefit of increasing your post workout metabolic rate and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Which brings you one step closer to working off that pizza from last night.

Next in line would be the muscle gainer. Because of the high caloric demand and time strain involved it can be very difficult to implement a strong aerobic routine while trying to gain excess muscle. All that considered, because of the wonderful benefits associated with cardiovascular exercise, I find its best if you can try to fit it in even if cardiovascular improvement isn’t your top priority. The current CDC guidelines for aerobic activity is 3-5 hours of moderate to vigorous exercise per week. If you want to gain muscle you might consider doing no more than 2 hours of moderate aerobic workouts per week. These cardio workouts would be best if done on the days your not lifting or following your lifting routine. There is data out there that shows resistance training prior to aerobic exercise impairs muscle metabolism and contraction, contributing to premature fatigue, and your EPOC levels are lower in comparison as well. However, if you want to gain muscle I’ve found this process to yield the greatest esthetic results. Just make sure your very cautious while doing your cardiovascular routine as to not injure yourself.

One word of caution, concurrent training has not been proven to be the best bang for your buck type of workout. If you have time to dedicate to exercising and can break your workouts up with a 12 hour split, that would be better than stacking them together. For the time constrained individual this layout seems to work best as far as science and opinion has shown thus far. These of course are just guidelines, feel free to mix it up where you see fit to keep things fresh or to fit in your life.

Happy Training!

“Oh please, you can eat anything you want and never get fat.”, “You can totally eat that;  your so skinny.” are really statements that should be responded with “You’re really fat, you shouldn’t be eating that.”.  For some people it may be polite behavior or perhaps jealousy of not saying it to themselves instead, but the truth of the matter is its all baloney.

Leave out all the fluff and niceness and ultimately there is a choice with everything. Now I’m not saying that genetics and environment don’t play a role. What I am saying is that those things are NOT the concluding factors nor should they be used as an excuse for the way you are. For those of us who have some genetic “handicaps” (me included) when it comes to weight management and who are consistently surrounded by “bad” choices (me again) I’m here to tell you to hike up your skirt and suck it up.

We all make life altering choices all day every day, and nutrition is no different. Please make no mistake about it, it can be very very difficult to eat responsibly in this gluttonous world today but neigh impossible. So you have “fat genes” or no time to exercise;  boo hoo. Do you think that successful health conscious people don’t have similar trials and tribulations? Do you think that some of us just wake up and are oblivious to the empty calories being shoved in our faces when our blood sugar is low? Wake up, its hard, and its hard for the majority of the population, even for the percentage that isn’t obese.

Think it through next time your mindlessly stuffing empty calories in your mouth or buying groceries in the “middle” isles at the store. You are making a choice, period. Ponder that choice next time you think you want cake. Look at the cake and ask yourself “Self, is this slice of cake really worth the 700 calories?”. If the answer is yes then you now have another choice to either walk 9 miles (or more depending on your heart rate) or to store those eaten calories as…..FAT! And you know what, sometimes it may be worth it to you to eat that cake and you are willing to accept the outcome of your actions. In which case I say eat the cake (in moderation) and go for a nice walk and talk about the better food choices you’ll make tomorrow. But if the answer is no and the blueberries, banana, rolled oats and plain non fat Greek yogurt parfait just isn’t going to cut it for you then I strongly suggest that you walk away from both treats. Don’t just eat the lesser evil treat because its not as bad. Choose every calorie! Fuel your body, not your emotions, not time, not laziness, YOU decide what you want to do. Take control of your actions and mindfully be aware of what you are actually choosing to do. If in the process you need a little guidance then check back at the CC Training blog and we’ll work to inform you to the best of our ability;  of course, the choice is yours.