Skiing anybody?

I'll let you guys in on a little secret. I HATE WORKING OUT! I've always considered myself an athlete and time spent in the gym grinding over workouts was a necessary evil to increase my performance in whatever sport I was playing at the time. I live for sports and active athletics and adventure. My latest passion is golf. It's just as competitive as any sport, takes a TON of skill, and is a lot easier on the body! I'm no stranger to playing winter golf but with snow on the ground the past 2 weeks and more in the forecast I need to do something active besides grinding over weights. So I'm thinking "Gee, I haven't gone snowboarding since I moved to NYC in 2002" I've only done it a handful of times but I absolutely love it. I'm trying to put a little trip together, if your interested login to facebook and click here

If I can do it, so can you!

So I made a post on my personal Facebook page about running intervals at 12.0 on the treadmill! I got a mixed response, some people thought I was full of it, and others said
"well your a trainer so of course you can" Well it's not quite that simple, yes I'm a trainer but that doesn't make me great at every physical feat known to man. The fact is that I'm 240lbs so 12.0 on the treadmill is pretty daring! But if I can do it, surely you can try jacking it up to 7 or 8. If your cardio workout has gotten stagnant, try this. 4.5-5.0 jog for 5 minutes to get loose, than 1 minute intervals going 7.0 followed by walking for 1 minute at 3.3 to bring your heart rate down. After you get a couple under your belt at 7.0, kick it up to 7.5 then 8.0. You'll find that the time goes by much faster this way and by adding intervals as a regular part of your routine you'll soon find those longer runs at 5.5 and 6.0 to be much easier.

New Years Diets ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

I just came from Barnes & Noble. I walked in with the intent to find a book on building golf clubs (another story unto itself) and was bombarded by diet books!!! No less than 32 by the time I lost count! Everyone knows "South Beach Diet" and "The Zone" but how about the "Lemon Juice" diet? Can't imagine that one flying off the shelves!!! It really got me to thinking, while there is a definate lack of education on proper nutrition for the average American, many of us know enough about the basics of what is good and what isn't to succeed. Accountability and willpower is a far bigger problem that no book can really help you with.

Find ways to be accountable for your nutrition and health habits and you'll be a lot more successful in 2009.

As a side note, i did come across a couple of books that looked useful. If your in the market for a diet book, start out with a basic calorie listing book. It will give you a great resource on just how many calories are in everyday foods you currently eat. There are also a couple of great books out there that list calorie content for over 500 fast food chains including some of the more "gourmet" style places here in the city like Panera and Pret a Manger. Of course calorie content in alcoholic beverages is quite useful. This just in, a shot of most 80 proof alcohols still has 110 calories so all you girls at the club drinking Bacardi and diet aren't doing any better than the guys drinking Bud Light!

New Years Resolutions

Here we go again! That special time of year! I must admit I always chuckle when I go to train my clients who live in apt buildings that have gyms in them. Come Jan 2nd of any given year I'm sure to find the gym packed with people who have the best of intentions but no real clue of what they are doing. The next week or 2 I'll be giving you an eyewitness accounts of some of the do's and dont's of starting a workout program.

My first observation:
A mid 30's gentleman appx 5'10 and I estimate around 210 lbs with 30lbs of that being beer belly. He's drenched in sweat running on the treadmill at 7.5 and to my surprise he's already grinded out almost 2 full miles in about 15 minutes so i know that he didn't start out slow and work up to 7.5. He goes another 5 minutes then makes his way over to the stairmaster.

So you say "Dave, stop being mean, he should be applauded for trying. Whats wrong with running a couple of miles?" Well I'll tell you. I've never seen this man before and I'm in this bldg as much as 6 days a week at varying times. Perhaps he works out regularly but I doubt it. The fact is that by carrying around 30 extra lbs on his frame and running that fast he's putting TREMENDOUS stress on his ligaments and tendons. What most people aren't aware of is that tendons and especially ligaments need conditioning as well. Muscles have tremendous amounts of blood flow and repair themselves quite fast. Connective tissues on the other hand have limited blood flow and if injured can take a long time to heal. This gentleman should start out with a nice easy stress free warmup on the bike or ellipitcal to take weight off of the joints then make his way over to the treadmill where he can maximize his fat burning.
The way he was laboring tells me his intensity was plenty high to get results but the reality is that he was working so hard that it probably wasn't very enjoyable and as a result, his chances of sticking with it long term are slim.

The Lesson:
Start small! Rome wasn't built in a day. Instead of making a general resolution to lose 30 lbs, resolve to go to the gym 30 minutes 3x a week for the first 3 weeks. Get yourself conditioned and focus on building the habit of making exercise a part of your life. Schedule your workouts into your Blackberry or Outlook calendar and prioritize them. If you absolutely have to miss a workout force yourself to reschedule into your week and stay on track. With a 3x per week plan there are 4 other open days for you to reschedule so NO EXCUSES!