Why We Foam Roll

Foam rolling is one of the easiest and most cost effective way to help your body with tight muscles, aches and pains and as a pre/post-workout treatment. At Train for Life, we advocate that our clients show up early to loosen up muscle density with the foam rollers before beginning any stretching and dynamic warm up work. As explained by one of my mentors, Mike Boyle, if you think of your muscle as two different thicknesses of rubber-bands tied together, when you pull on the bands, the you will get length out of less dense band and tighten the knot. This is illustrated below by Mike himself:

Obviously, this may not seem like a desired result so in order to help eliminate trigger points/knots in the muscle, we want to work them out with the foam roller or one of our self-massage tools. Spending 5-10 minutes on this pre- and post-workout is what I recommend to all of my clients. Foam rolling can be painful at first, but typically it is a sign that it is needed! Many times, non-contact joint injuries and pain, is due to tightness in the muscle above or below the joint, such as knee pain caused by a tight IT Band.

When you begin your foam rolling, you are applying pressure to the major muscle groups by rolling back and forth on top of the roller. In doing so, you are looking to find any area of discomfort. Once these areas are identified, you'll want to work on these areas in order to reduce pressure in the muscle. Because this can often be painful, you'll want to work on a pain scale of 1 to 10 without exceeding 7 or 8. Beginners will sometimes want to start out with a lighter density roller and work their way up as the muscle quality begins to improve.

Whether you are looking to feel better or you want to improve your mobility and flexibility in your sport, foam rolling should be done daily along with a sound stretching and mobility routine. You can see the video below on how I demonstrate some of the major areas to work on with the foam roller.

Track Your Way to Success

Keeping a food log is one of the most effective ways to manage your weight loss and performance goals. Whether you are struggling to change your poor eating habits or lose those last stubborn 10 pounds, you need to know what you're putting in your body on daily basis. Here are the top 3 reasons why you should be logging your food and training:

1. Accountability No one can help you but YOU! Having a great support system around you is very important, but no one is going to make the changes for you, not your trainer, not your doctor, not your kids, ONLY YOU. Only you can decide to make a change and follow through with it. By tracking what you are doing, you have a clear record of what is working and what is not. Your good and bad habits are staring you back in the face. Every time you eat something, log it! Look back on your logs on a daily and/or weekly basis to see how you've done. Who knew those mindless snacking habits at your desk was the problem? Or that one extra latte every morning is throwing your entire diet plan off by an extra 400-500 calories!

2. Motivation Ever hear of the snowball effect? The snowball effect is a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger and of more importance or significance. Well that's what can happen when you are tracking your progress regular. Small steps like eating a healthier breakfast or attending boot camp 3 days a week instead of 2, build upon one another. As you see yourself achieving each small goal, the bigger goals become easier and easier to achieve. 1 pound becomes 5 pounds of weight loss, a 1 mile run becomes 5 miles, etc. As you set goals for yourself, you can look at your logs and be sure that you are doing all the things necessary to achieve them.

3. Knowledge Knowledge is power. Many people have no idea what is healthy and what is not. With all of the resources out there for diets, exercise, supplements, and more it becomes very difficult to know what to follow and what will work. Using a tracking system can take a lot of the guess work out of your plan. As you log your food, you will learn how many calories are in certain foods, what's high in sugar, what a good source of protein is, etc. Knowing how many calories you should be eating per day and what you are doing now may be very different. Often times we fall into such a routine, we may be feeding ourselves way too much or way too little. It's rare that without proper knowledge of nutrition people are eating exactly the right amounts of healthy foods.

One of the best resources out there to help you with this is LIVESTRONG.COM. Click the link below and set up a FREE account with MYPLATE.

http://www.livestrong.com/

Why We Do What We Do

The following is a few research studies that Alwyn Cosgrove, one of my mentors in the fitness industry, distributed recently in his e-mail newsletter. The studies continue to prove that a combination of traditional strength training, metabolic resistance training and intervals are the keys to fat loss.

Special thanks to fellow geek :) Craig Ballantyne for letting me know about a couple of these: Knab et al. A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011 Feb 8. These researchers had subjects undergo a bout of cycling at approx 73% of VO2 max (approximately 84% of max heart rate) for 45 mins. The subjects burned on average 520 calories in the 45 min training session. The following day their resting energy expenditure was increased an average of 190 cals compared to normal. Basically - the subjects burned an additional 37% MORE calories than the workout itself in the 14 hour post workout period -- meaning that a single high-intensity session, when including the post-workout metabolic boost could burn up to 710 cals in total. A second study Heden et al. One-set resistance training elevates energy expenditure for 72 h similar to three sets. European Journal of Applied Physiology. Volume 111, Number 3, 477-484, Mar 2011 The subjects were put on a very simple resistance training routine - full body training, either 1 or 3 sets per exercise of ten exercises. The researchers then examined the subjects resting energy expenditure at 24, 48 and 72 hours post workout. Both groups showed an elevated metabolism (afterburn effect) of around 100 cals per day. But there was no difference between groups. It seems that it's intensity that determines how many calories are burned post-workout, not volume (obviously a higher volume program would burn more calories during the session than a lower volume program. A third study confirmed this: Scott et al. Energy expenditure characteristics of weight lifting: 2 sets to fatigue. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011 Feb;36(1):115-20. The researchers looked at the caloric expenditure of bench pressing using three different loads and concluded "As more work is completed (i.e., lower weight, more repetitions), aerobic and anaerobic exercise energy expenditures appear to increase accordingly, yet absolute EPOC remains essentially unchanged". In other words - the post workout caloric burn (in this case measured aerobically) One more: Astorino et al. Effect of acute caffeine ingestion on EPOC after intense resistance training.J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2011 Mar;51(1):11-7. This study showed a 15% increase in post-workout calories burned after the ingestion of caffeine as a pre-workout supplement. The total extra calories burned as a result of this only added up to around 27 cals in the hour after the workout. Not a lot but still something to consider. Plus I like iced coffee :)

Failing to Plan is Planning to FAIL

Preparation is one of the most important things on your way to achieving every one of your goals. Whether it's the proper warm up, creating a to do list, or preparing your meals, you must break down your goals into easy to follow steps in order to reach the end result. In this post, I'm going to talk to you about how to plan for success with your nutrition. As most of you know, nutrition is a huge component to reaching your fat loss and performance goals. You CAN NOT out work a bad diet. Food should be a means to provide your body with fuel, not something to fall back on because you're bored or stressed. 90% of the food we consume should be eaten to help us reach our goals and the other 10% will keep you sane and allow to indulge once in a while. In order to be sure that you are following this type of plan, preparation has to come into play. In the following, we will talk about 3 easy ways to set up your week for success!

1. Create a List Start your week by writing down a list of things you need to accomplish in order to have a successful week. As you plan out your week, think about when and what you will be eating throughout the day. To best prepare yourself to eat the right foods, they must be readily available to you. In your initial preparation, if you plan your grocery list and only buy the foods on it, you will eliminate the temptation of having bad food choices in your home. You will buy what is needed in order to make all of your meals and snacks.

2. Shopping and What to Do with It When you head to the grocery store, bring your list with you! Once you get there, if you have planned accordingly, you should be making your way around the outside of the store. The perimeter of most stores is where you will find all of your fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, dairy, etc.. All of the food choices that you want to be making. As soon as you start roaming the isles is when you will find all of your processed foods and other junk you want to keep out of your diet. Stick to your list and you will come home with a recipe for success. Once you get home, it's time to prepare everything. Cut up your fruit and vegetables for the next 2-3 days. Cook one or two main meat choices, chicken, fish, etc. Throw something into the crock pot, turkey chili is always a great choice, so you can prepare 3-4 meals in one pot. After these are prepped, package them in containers and baggies that are appropriate serving sizes in order to simplify your meal choices.

3. Eat What You Cooked! Last, but certainly not least, eat the foods you have prepared! All of that may have seemed pretty easy to do so far, but no you must be sure to stick to it. Don't bring your afternoon snack to work with you and then go for a walk to the vending machine. You did all this work for a reason. You have a goal in mind and you want to stick with it. The easier you make the process, the easier you will stick to it and achieve your goals.

After a while, this will become habit. You will find one or two days a week to prepare everything. You will find you will have more time for other things as you will not have to cook so often. Excuses are easy to make, but if you are prepared, there will be less reason for you to make them! Most of us fail at a task because we do not prepare ourselves for success. The better prepared you are the more likely you will reach your goal!

WRITE IT DOWN!

January of 2011 is almost over! How far along have you come with your New Years' resolutions? If you haven't even started yet, one twelfth of the year is already over, what are you waiting for? Goal setting is one of the most important tools to getting where you want to be. If fat loss is your goal, you need to be setting small goals like 1 pound per week in order to achieve the total 10, 20, 50 pounds that you want to lose. If you don't know where you are going, you will never get there. You must work on the small goals in order to achieve the big ones. We will be discussing how to set your goals properly to achieve each and every one of them.

First thing, you've got to write down what you want. At the beginning of this month, I sat down and wrote down 20 items that I want to work on this year. These are the big goals that are the most important for me to have a great 2011. The following is the list of things that I wanted to work on:

I WILL Walk Peyton 5 times a week I WILL Run the Seven Sisters (under 4 hours), the Rugged Maniacs and the Warrior Dash I WILL Deadlift 500 lbs and Bench Press 315 lbs I WILL Pay off my credit card debt I WILL Get Train for Life up and running as my sole business and not have to work 2 or more jobs I WILL Be more patient I WILL Write, journal and blog I WILL Do Yoga at least once a week I WILL Read at least 25 books by the end of the year I WILL Complete 3 more certifications, NSCA-CPT, HKC and IYCA Youth Specialist I WILL Workout at least 4 days per week I WILL Film a video library of exercises for my website and clients use I WILL Visit 12 gyms of strength and conditioning coaches who I respect and hope to learn from I WILL Snowboard at least 5 times this year I WILL Spend more time outdoors; hiking, running, snowboarding, etc... I WILL Go on a vacation I WILL Get rid of the pain and tightness in my right hip I WILL Get a massage at least every couple months I WILL Attend at least 2 seminars I WILL Be the best friend/fiancee/trainer/coach that I can

Those are my goals, now it's your turn to do the same! Once you compile a list of your long term goals, you have to figure out a way you are going to get to each of them. Your big goals can be broad, but in order to achieve them you must be very specific about the ways you will work toward them. So if one of you're big goal is weight loss, you must set small goals like 'I will go to the gym at least 3 days per week' and 'I will eat a protein source and vegetable with every meal.' As you achieve these goals, keep track! Small goals will snowball and give you the momentum you need. I posted my reading list, 25 books at one every 2 weeks outlines how I will get there. This is a great example of how to simplify a large goal into something more manageable.

After you've completed these lists, they need to be kept in the front your mind. You need to do this not just by thinking about them a lot, but by setting up visuals to remind you of them. Placing the list on your refrigerator or office desk, you will be constantly reminded of what you are trying to do. Another idea I use, I give each of my clients a white bracelet with our slogan, 'Live is Hard, Train Harder' as a reminder to be disciplined. By wearing it you will be reminded of what it is you want, so each time you are about to put a bad piece of food in your mouth or skip your next workout, you'll stop and think twice!

Make 2011 the year that you become a better you. I posted a while back a quote from Jim Wendler, a powerlifter and strength coach who I greatly respect, "New Years' resolutions are for losers. Just live the lift you want and reach goals all the time. End of story." While this is a little harsh for some, if you're constantly setting goals you won't need to revisit the same resolutions year in and year out, you will always be striving to be better, each and every day. We only get one shot at this, give it your best, AND THEN SOME!

2010 - What I Learned This Year

I got engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world. I wake up every morning knowing that I am loved and I am in love, it’s the best feeling in the world. I read a quote a while back that goes something like this, …your one true love will be your mirror, she will show you the good, bad and the ugly about yourself… She will make me a better person, I want to be the best I can be for her. I love you, always and forever. · I started Train for Life. I have been blessed with an opportunity very few are ever given. I was given the opportunity to make my dreams come true. I am super thankful for those who have believed in me and continue support what I stand for. I know that I do NOT know everything but the desire to be better for these people is what keeps me going.

· I hit a point this year where I lost my way, I was not motivated to be better, and let everything around me bring me down. That will never happen again!

· Having a dog is a blessing. Having Peyton makes Jordan and I complete, in my opinion. We are a family. When you look at a pet and they look back at you, there is nothing that compares to the loyalty and love between you and your dog. Get a dog, not a cat.

· Goal setting and writing things down makes a world of a difference. After reading this numerous times and hearing it in several talks I attended, I started doing it. It has definitely helped my productivity level and I will continue to get better at it.

· Kindness goes a long way. Mike Boyle says, People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. As I said before, I know I have more to learn but if I can give my all to those around me, I can help better reach their goals.

· When you lose a loved one, remember the good things. Forget the bad.

· I absolutely love the way I feel when I eat healthy and train hard. After being injured a lot of this year, will not take my health for granted. Taking the time to foam roll, stretch, do mobility work, etc will be at the forefront of my training this year. I want to be able to do this stuff till the day I die, at the very least teach it to others.

· Patience is a very important part of life. I will continue work on this.

· I love being outdoors. There is a real joy that comes from nature. There is a calm and peacefulness about being on top of a mountain away from everything. I always wonder what the world was like before cities and towns.

· Each and every year will be better than the last. Life is about growth. No matter how good or bad experiences may be they have taught you something and made you who you are. Learn from them. As one of my favorite quotes goes, “Sometimes I win and sometimes, I learn. Loosing is for losers. I will NOT lose.”

Pay Now or Pay Later

A good friend and client recently sent me this article; Supervised exercise improves glycemic control and other cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study.

Some 600 sedentary adults in Italy with type 2 diabetes were randomized either to twice-weekly supervised exercise (aerobic and resistance training) plus exercise counseling or to exercise counseling alone. After 12 months, the mean hemoglobin A1c level had dropped significantly more with supervised exercise than with counseling alone (-0.42% vs. -0.13%). The exercise group also achieved significant improvements in blood pressure, lipid levels, waist circumference, and body-mass index. Editorialists say the trial "supports the addition of supervised, facility-based exercise training to standard therapy" for type 2 diabetes. They add: "The cost of delivering such therapy would probably compare favorably with the costs of many diabetes medications, none of which would have the vast range of clinically beneficial effects" observed in this study.

As we approach the New Year, men and women everywhere will begin to set forth on New Years' resolutions. Many of these resolutions will be short lived. As other things begin to pile up with the come of the New Year, things such as time, knowledge, motivation, money, and many others will become excuses that hinder these resolutions. Starting a workout plan and diet is one of the most daunting tasks people face. With that said, looking for help should come to forefront. Everyone needs a coach or a mentor; the best athletes, models, CEOs all look for someone to help them reach their goals and so should YOU.

Supervised exercise programs by a qualified trainer can make these goals much easier to achieve. On average one-on-one sessions can run anywhere from $50 and upwards of $150-200 per hour depending on the demographic. This cost may seem like a lot up front but when we look at the cost of other medical expenses that may be needed in the long run if lifestyle changes are not made, it should seem much more reasonable. As stated in this study, this type of intervention is much more effective in terms of cost and long term results. Along the same lines, if one looks at how much is spent yearly on items like take-out or coffee, again these costs may become more reasonable. Lifestyle changes can be made a little at a time until they become habit. Make your health and fitness a PRIORITY in your life and achieving your goals with the help of a trainer can be accomplished!

More to come over the next month about lifestyle changes...