Fitness

HEALTHY EATING: 1. Nutritional Basics

Ask almost any personal trainer and they’ll tell you that regardless of your training goals, healthy eating is the backbone. Food is what fuels your body to reach your goals and without proper nutrition through quality foods, you’re likely to stall. As a result, if possible, eat organic foods and, above all else, maintain a balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, complete proteins, and fats including such things as fish oils and flaxseeds.

  1. Prepare Ahead

Regardless of what you’re doing, preparing yourself in advance gives you the best chance to accomplish your goals. Micah LaCerte, a personal trainer and fitness competition world champion, explains that your approach to nutrition should be no different. LaCerte says it’s best to prepare for your “upcoming day by prepping all your food in advance.” He adds that this will ensure you do “not eat bad foods or skip meals.”

  1. Eat more

Eating only three daily meals? For over 25 years, personal trainer Mike Duffy has sought to correct this habit explaining that, “half the people I deal with aren’t losing weight because they don’t eat enough.” Duffy advises them “to eat five times a day, about every three hours to stimulate their metabolism” including two mini meals between their three basic meals. With activity levels decreasing throughout the day, he advises to “eat less as the day goes on.”

  1. Portion Control

You’ll be eating more often, so paying attention to portions is extremely important. Jay Cardiello, a personal trainer to countless celebrities and professional athletes, explains that you need to “make sure chicken breasts, (and) meats, are no larger than your palm” and that “spaghettis, (and) pastas, are no larger than your fists.” He also suggests using “smaller bowls, plates, and cups” because studies show people “serve themselves 20 to 40% more food when they’re using larger plates.”

  1. Eat With Purpose

Everything you consume should have substantial nutritional value. No one knows this better than Dan Trink who possesses 11 training certificates in spite of once being overweight. Today, through the magic of the Internet, Trink helps people around the world get healthy and he stresses that, “you want the most nutritional bang for your buck.” He adds “everything you eat should serve some sort of nutritional purpose in your body, fuel your workouts, and (be) geared towards optimizing your body.”

MASS BUILDING: 6. Muscle-Building Basics

Talk to any personal trainer and they’ll tell you there are certain muscle-building basics. First, increase your caloric and complete protein intake. Then, when you enter the gym, focus on your form. Perform compound movements and train with weights on average around four times a week. Never underestimate the importance of rest. Remember, muscle tissue grows outside of the gym when you’re giving your body time to relax and recover following your workouts.

  1. Range of Motion

Don’t take any short cuts. As personal trainer Lee Boyce explains, that means you should “aim for the largest ROM you can achieve in your exercises.” Why? Simple, according to Boyce, an ex-athlete with a background in Kinesiology and Health Sciences, “your muscles will do more work per rep, and it will result in your breaking down more tissue by the end of the workout.”

  1. Up and Down

Wondering how to get the most out of lifting weights? Duffy says that he tells his clients to “use a weight that will have them failing on the set between the 30 and 40 second mark because research has shown that it’s the time under tension that causes muscle to grow if you are trying to build more muscle.” He cautions that if “you’re failing at 20 seconds, you know that weight was too heavy.”

  1. Contradicting Cardio

Do you love your cardio exercises? If so, you’ll be disappointed to know that, as LaCerte states, “during times of mass building you do not want to do large amounts of cardio.” Why? Chances are you’ll be burning far too many calories. So what should you do if you still want to get in some cardio? LaCerte says “a light jog a few days per week for 20 minutes is adequate.”

  1. Supplementing

Some feel supplements can play a key role in boosting muscle gains. If you subscribe to that theory chances are you’re already taking protein supplements, but what else? Trink says that creatine “seems to be about the most effective strength and size-building supplement.” And, to boost your performance, you may also want to try peppermint. Cardiello explains that, the scent “alters the perception of how hard you’re working out” making it seem “less strenuous, slower paced, and easier to complete.”

ENDURANCE TRAINING: 11. Prepare Yourself

When it comes to training for endurance, you’ll need to be hydrated and be sure you’re eating properly because, by its very nature, this form of training is very demanding on your body. You should be doing a good mix of cardio and weight training. And, to increase your aerobic capacity, you should incorporate intense interval training. You’ll likely be sweating buckets and burning calories galore, so be prepared.

  1. Heart Rate Monitor

If you already own a heart rate monitor, considering all the exercisesyou’ll be performing, this would be a good time to use it. If not, you may want to either go out and buy one, or learn how to do it yourself. Why? Duffy advises to “monitor your heart rate” because “it’s not just doing it and doing it for 60 minutes, it’s am I doing it hard enough for 60 minutes.”

  1. Exhaust for Endurance

To further your endurance training, you need to put in total effort. Boyce says, “you’re going for muscle exhaustion, so remember to fully exhaust the muscles.” How can you do that? Boyce suggests that you “get good at the bodyweight staples – pull ups, chin ups, push ups, inverted rows, (and) squats.” He adds that, “if you can master these movements for high reps, your muscles will get well conditioned.”

  1. Reduce Rest Time

It’s always tempting to take a break when training, but LaCerte advises that you should “stick with rest times of 30 to 45 seconds between sets” because he says “this will help increase your overall endurance.” LaCerte adds that “if you are strength training, lift moderate to heavy weight and keep your rep range between 8 to 15 reps,” or “if you’re running, mix duration cardio with sprinting.”

  1. Fight Fatigue

Fatigue may be your biggest enemy when endurance training, but Cardiello gave us some tips to fight it. First, drink beet juice because “it can actually increase stamina by up to 16%” and it “helps your muscles produce more energy, more efficiently, making exercise less exhausting.” Another way to boost your performance is by carefully selecting your music because a recent study suggested that, “when people listen to favorable music their blood vessels expanded 26%.”

STRENGTH TRAINING–16. Strengthening Basics

According to our personal trainers, if you want to build strength, you have to set goals and be patient. In the early going it’s important to be consistent and stick with your plan. When you’re in the gym, don’t get distracted. Stay focused on the task at hand. When you leave the gym, make sure you get proper rest and keep track of your progress. If you stay determined, your goals can be accomplished.

  1. Motivation

Motivation is key. Cardiello advises to count down when performing reps and “look at your dominant hand while you’re pushing up.” He explains that it “automatically includes a positive reinforcement” because the dominant hand more easily and quickly moves the weight. Also, if you’re using the post-workout sauna time as a motivating factor, stop because it “actually impairs performance and strength two days later.” Instead, Cardiello suggests taking cold showers or even “ice baths to help replenish muscles.”