Friday, November 5, 2010

Where would we find you?

If I didn't know you but had to meet you at your gym, where would I find you?  In the weight room, step class, pool, cardio machines, spinning class or maybe the yoga studio.  What if I asked what your exercise goal was, would this help me find you?  Chances are I would be looking for you in all the wrong places. 
Most of my clients come to me for fat loss, energy gain and lean muscle development.  When I look to see what they have been doing to reach this goal in the past they seem to be performing counter productive exercises and practicing low calorie nutrition habits.
Women tell me that they want to tone (I hate this term) and lose fat. So I would look in the weight room to see what strength interval workouts they were performing, but instead find them in an hour long 'spinning class'. Spinning is an inefficient way to lose body fat.  Spinning will increase the storage of intramuscular and subcutaneous fat in the hip and thigh areas to provide a more readily available source of fuel for the muscles.  "But I sweat", they say. Sweating is a poor indicator of work, I know people who sweat reaching to the bottom of the fridge. 
I'm not picking on spinning! This is just an example of people who want a result but are misinformed on how they should get there. The same goes for yoga for fat loss, pilates, doing long duration treadmill or elliptical work for fat loss. It is counter productive.
Strength and interval resistance training is far more efficient. Mix up your training modalities and use low rest intervals with proper weight and volume to stimulate lean muscle growth and most importantly, fat loss mobilization.
So you may go to the gym 4 days per week and say I don't need a personal trainer. If you don't know where you are hormone deficient, what ratio of lean to fat mass you are, or what your daily micro-nutrient breakdown is (carbs, proteins, fats), then seeing a personal trainer for a proper assessment and program maybe just what you need.
TopShape Mike

No comments:

Post a Comment