Street Intervals

I’ve started a new cardio program that includes a couple versions of cardios.  It is a combination of continuous aerobic and interval aerobic exercises.  This is a good plan for the beginners and advanced clients.  Just make sure to start at an intensity level that is suitable for at least 15 minutes.

2-Phase Street Interval (at least 7-8 Runs and up to 10-13)

* If ready to increase duration, increase intensity levels instead.  Keep to about 20 minutes and below.

Run – 1 Minute (Speed and Duration  may change)

Speed Walk – 1 Minute (Speed and Duration may change)

* I have started with running distance with this form of cardio as well as sprints, runs, and jogs.  It is great for any type of athlete or starting individual.

For more information, check out my website or send me a comment or question.  www.DansPersonalTraining.com

Muscular Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is basically the increase in size of muscle cells in the body.  Muscular hypertrophy can be increased by strength training and short, high-intensity anaerobic exercises such as resistance training.

By performing short, high-intensity exercises, your body uses more fat as energy as opposed to endurance athletes where they enhance the storage of fats and carbohydrates in the muscles.

The most important principle behind muscular hypertrophy is progressive overload.  This is the increasing of weight, repetitions, and sets and all have a positive impact on muscular growth.

When performing resistance training, microtrauma occurs which is the damage of muscle fibers.  This happens when the body responds by overcompensating for the damaged tissue by adding more.  This then decreases the risk of more damage to the fibers.  Progressive overload is hence essential to continued growth and improvement because the body continues to adapt and be more resistant to stress.

While developing your resistance training programs, continue to shock your body with varying exercises, weight, repetitions, and sets to produce the progressive overload which helps stimulate muscle growth.

For more information, feel free to contact me at my website www.DansPersonalTraining.com or send me a comment.

Fat-Burning Tips (Cont.)

3 Times to do Interval Cardio

1. 60-90 minutes after waking up (2 glasses of water, coffee if necessary)

2. 2-3 hours after a meal

3. After an interval resistance training

When to eat after Interval Cardio Training?

45-60 minutes after

“Avoid Complex Carbs”

Male: 30-40g of Protein and 10g of Fiber

Female: 25g of Protein and 5-8g of Fiber

1-3g of Friendly Fats (Fish Oil, etc.) or 1 Tbsp of Healthy Peanut Butter

Carb Control

· Timing

· Combinations

· Portion Control

Avoid starchy and sugary carbs

Male: After 6pm

Female: After 3pm

- Consume small balanced meals that contain lean quality protein, fibrous vegetables, and small amounts of friendly fats.

Food Combinations/Portion Control

Carbs – Size of clenched fist

Protein – Size of palm of your hand

Friendly Fats – Size of your thumb (1-2 tbsp)

Use correct timing for starchy and sugary carbs as stated above.

5-6 meals per day!

Learn to plan ahead, making healthy choices, creating “on-the-go” fat burning snacks and using supplementation. This will help you easily hit 5 or 6 meals per day AND save time doing so.

Importance of Fiber

There are many benefits of fiber that you may not know of.  You must get 25 – 35 grams of fiber each day and it will help in the following ways.

1. Helps stabilize blood sugar and insulin
2. Helps control your appetite and cravings
3. Helps absorb more nutrients from the food that we consume daily
4. Helps maintain a healthy cholesterol level
5. Helps with healthy bacteria and digestive health

After seeing the benefits of fiber and what it does for the body, start counting how much fiber you consume on a daily basis and add a fiber supplement if necessary.  Just another great mineral that helps keep your body be a fat-burning machine.

For more information on helping your body burn more fat, contact my website at www.DansPersonalTraining.com or send me a comment on m blog.

Importance of Water

There are many great aspects of water or H2O.  It helps to burn fat, prevent diseases, boost energy, control cravings, curb appetite and get control of catalysts that will help your health long-term.

Take 50% of your bodyweight worth of ounces of water every day to boost your fat-burning power.  There are a few important facts that water does to improve your health.

1. Increase energy, prevent headaches, and curb your appetite.
2. Helps rid your body of excess waste and toxins.
3. Decreases water retention so drink more water to stay lean, fat-burning machine.

3 Areas of Fat Burning

There are 3 main areas of fat burning that is needed to get your six-pack and fat burning metabolism working in less time and more efficiently.  The three areas are Cardio, Resistance Training, and Nutrition.  These key areas are all you need to find the success you are looking for.

Cardio

• Aerobic – Slower, continuous type of cardio (only once a week)

• Interval Training – High Intensity spurts of energy

• High Intensity Interval Training – Done in combination of the previous

*Interval training helps to increase your metabolism 48 hours after a high intensity workout.

Resistance Training

• Core Strength
• Hypertrophy – Gain muscle
• Strength & Power

Nutrition

• Timing

Avoid starchy carbs later in the day

Female: After 3pm

Male: After 6pm

• Combinations

Consume small balanced meals that contain lean quality protein,  fibrous veggies/carbs, and small amounts of friendly fats.

• Portion Control

Consume small balanced meals that contain lean quality protein (size of the palm of your hand), fibrous veggies/carbs (size of a clenched fist), and small amounts of friendly fats (1-2 tbsp or size of your thumb).

For more information, feel free to check out my website at www.DansPersonalTraining.com or send me an email at danmgraff@gmail.com.

The key is to learn how to plan ahead, making healthy choices, creating “on-the-go” fat burning snacks and using supplementation to hit your 5-6 meals per day.

Older Adult Exercise

Regular exercise and health promotion among the older adults cannot be emphasized enough.  There are several physiological challenges facing older adults including:

• Maximal heart rate declines
• Blood pressure increases
• Stroke volume declines
• Maximal oxygen uptake declines
• Bones become more fragile
• Muscle mass declines
• Lean body weight declines

Endurance training can significantly reduce the mean blood pressure and the systemic vascular resistance in older adult clients.

Weightbearing and resistance-training exercises are known to help maintain bone bass as well s preserves lean body mass, decreases fat stores, and stimulates protein synthesis, which may reverse the adverse changes in body composition as an individual ages.

The exercise program should combine endurance, flexibility, and balance training, as well as muscle-strength and joint mobilization.

Clients should be involved in endurance activities and a program of weight training that features low resistance and high repetitions.  The exercise should be low intensity and should have a frequency of 4-5 times per week.  A longer warm-up/cool-down period is recommended and a duration of 30 to 60 minutes per session.

Arthritis

The 2 most common forms of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the joint, and is often associated with pain and swelling in one or more joints.

Osteoarthritis is common in the elderly, aged 55 and above.

Exercise is recommended for individuals with arthritis to:

• Help preserve muscle strength and joint mobility
• Improve functional capabilities
• Relieve pain and stiffness
• Prevent further deformities
• Improve overall physical conditioning
• Re-establish neuromuscular coordination
• Mobilize stiff or contracted joints

Exercise programs need to achieve the proper balance between rest, immobilization of affected joints, and appropriate exercise to reduce the severity of the inflammatory joint disease.

Clients should participate in non-weightbearing activities of low-intensity, dynamic exercise based on the client’s comfort level.  They should perform exercise at least 4-5 times per week.  The duration of the exercise should include a longer warm-up/cool-down period and should last no longer than 10 to 15 minutes.

Low-Back Pain (LBP)

Low-Back Pain has been labeled the most expensive benign health condition in America.  Reducing back-injury rates is a top priority for all employers.  The most common type of workers’ compensation claim is a back strain/sprain which accounts for 25% of all claims representing annual payments of $2.5 to $7 billion.

4 Common causes include:

1. A herniated disc (rupture of the outer layers of fibers that surround the gelatinous portion of the disc)
2. Spondylolisthesis (forward sliding of the body of one vertebra on the vertebra below it)
3. A trauma to the back (accident)
4. Degenerative disc disease

Poor flexibility in the hamstrings and hip flexor muscles also have been linked to LBP.

A strong correlation exists between LBP and excess body weight, smoking, and decreased physical activity.

Low endurance in the large muscle groups, particularly the back extensors, seems to put one at a greater risk of developing LBP.

Aerobic training and exercises for the low-back should be performed on a regular basis as part of the treatment and prevention of LBP.

Some exercises that help the lower-back include:

• Side stretch
• Abdominal curls
• Modified push-ups
• Lateral leg raises
• Groin stretch
• Hamstring stretch
• Calf stretch
• Quadriceps stretch

Personal Training Method

If you have time, I am getting votes on what is the preferred Personal Training Method.  Thanks for voting.