4 Awesome Home Workouts to Get You Moving!

Well, the holiday season is upon us and with that comes parties, family and a noticable lack of time to go to the gym! Well, I'm going to solve all that for you and give you a few workouts you can do at home with nothing but your own bodyweight and maybe a timer.

1. Tabatas - Tabatas are a timing protocol where you will perform an exercise at a very high intensity for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. You perform that 20-10 combination 8 times for a quick, but intense, 4 minute workout. You can do it with all sorts of different exercises. I like to do it with two exercises and then alternate them. Like Squats and Pushups. Short shuttle runs work well, too.

2. Countdowns - Alternate two opposing exercises like Vertical Jumps and Pushups and do 10 reps of each, then 9 reps of each, then 8 etc. all the way down to 1. If you're feeling particularly good you can go back up to 10.

3. Hill Sprints - This is simply one of the best, and simplest, workouts you can do. Go to the bottom of a hill. Run up it. Walk down and repeat. Hill sprints are great for conditioning and they're also much easier on the joints then flat running.

4. My Ten Rep Workout - Very simple. Do 10 reps each of vertical jumps, squats, lunges with each leg, pushups and hold a 20-30 second plank. If you have a pullup bar throw in pullups as well. If you can't do regular pullups, do jumping pullups. Wait one minute and repeat for 2-4 more sets.
You've just worked your explosive muscle fibers, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back and core.

If you have any questions, just let me know. Have a great holiday!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
www.MitchRFitness.com
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Survive and Thrive During the Holidays!

As the stress goes up pain usually does as well. The holidays can bring joy and good cheer but they can also bring your no good Cousin Bill out of the woodwork to eat all your food and frighten your kids. You can usually get Cousin Bill out of the house after the pumpkin pie is finished but the stress sticks around when you think of seeing him on Christmas.

With stress comes a host of things that cause issues. Cortisol levels in our body rise which increases inflammation. Most people carry stress in their shoulders which can lead to distorted posture and shoulder and back pain. Our energy level drops and that causes us to stop doing the things that are most important when we feel this way: exercise and eating healthy. This all leads to more pain and discomfort.

What I want to do today is give you some ideas to relieve some of the pain that develops at these times.  

1. Keep doing the things you should be doing. The worst time to jump off the "healthy habits" bandwagon is when you're under stress. All that will do is make you feel even more stressed. You know these things are going to happen, so mentally plan for them and schedule your time accordingly. And what better time to leave for the gym then when Cousin Bill is going to come by looking for leftovers?

2. Get your soft tissue work in. You can go for a massage or use your foam roller (if you don't know what that is or how to use one, go here). All of that stress creates tightness and good soft tissue work helps break that down. Soft tissue work increases flexibility, mobility, circulation and gives you a laundry list of other benefits. If you still haven't gotten on the foam roller bandwagon GET ON IT NOW!! Your body will dislike you a little at first, but will love you soon after.

3. Work those hips! I liken the hips to a door. You can have the best door made out of the most beautiful oak and a strong door frame to hang it from, but if the hinge is made out of cheap metal and breaks, then you have a lousy door. Your hips are the hinge. Most of us have tight, immobile hips because we sit for so much of the day. People don't realize that most back pain doesn't come from back issues, it comes from poor hip function, so stand up, get moving and get stretching. Good hips will make your whole body function and feel better.

4. Work those shoulders! If the hips are number one in making your body feel better than your shoulders are 1A. If you carry stress in your shoulders, as most people do, that causes tightness in the trapezius/neck area. That leads to all sorts of fun stuff like rotator cuff injuries, back pain, headaches, more stress and bad posture. In other words, the stress in your shoulders begets more stress in your shoulders! Not good. The most important thing to improve your shoulder posture is awareness, so be aware of keeping your body in the "chest up, shoulders down" position. That will make a huge difference. As a bonus it will look like you lost some weight, too!

5. Just go with it. Sometimes the holidays require us to do some things we might not necessarily want to do. Just do your best to go with it. You don't have a choice so do your best to enjoy the time.

6. Enjoy yourself. At the end of the day the holidays should be about enjoying yourself and being thankful for what you have. Don't forget that!

Happy Holidays!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
www.MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!

7 Holiday Gift Ideas for the Gym Rat In Your Life

Hi! Every Christmas I write a list so that you can do some shopping for the fitness enthusiast in your life. This year is no exception, so please don't get your loved one the latest "Butt Lifter" or "Ab Toner" or whatever else you just saw on that infomercial. I'll give you the lowdown on some stuff that you can get that will really work for your favorite gym rat.

1. Resistance Bands - Over the last year I've introduced these to my clients and we use them all the time to get stronger, more mobile, lose weight increase flexibility and have a ton of fun. The bands I recommend aren't the usual ones you can find in any sporting goods store, though. The ones I use are like really big rubber bands.

You can get  a package here that will give you everything you need to get started including a four-week workout program. You can also go here to download a free e-book about how to develop a stronger core with bands. Who doesn't like free?

2. Ab Wheel. Oh yes! The only thing I've ever seen on an infomercial that actually works! This is a fantastic tool for core training and you can find them just about anywhere for between 10 and 20 bucks. The only thing is that it WILL make you pretty darn sore the first few times you use it, so start off slowly and it does fall into the "advanced" exercise category so be honest about your level before you tear yourself up.

3. ARF wear. Those who know me know how much I love and value our four-legged friends. In fact, as I write this, I have my puppy taking a nap in my lap. Go here to pick up something to help support one of the best animal rescue organizations anywhere: Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation. (I know it's not fitness related, but that's OK.)

4. A Blender Bottle. These are, quite simply, the best shaker bottles around! They come with a wire/whisk ball that breaks up your protein powder and mixes it up very well. No more chunky protein shakes! You can find them in just about any supplement/health food store for about $10-$15 depending on the size. I have five and I still need to seach for a clean one!

5. A personal trainer. I can't let this go without a shameless plug. But seriously, whether it's me or someone else, a good trainer can get you to your goals faster and safer. Just do your due diligence and find a good one.

6. Eating Well magazine. Everyone knows how important nutrition is to your goals. This magazine focuses on relatively healthy, easy and most importantly, delicious recipes that anyone can make. Even me! For just $9.99 you can get a year subscription to this great magazine. Just go here to get it. 

7. The Men's Health Book of Power Training by Robert dos Remedios. Put it this way. This book completely changed the way I look at training. If you're still having a "chest" day and an "arm" day take a look at this book to see another more integrated and functional full-body approach. The author trains hundreds of college athletes a day using the templates found right here. 

Well, I hope that gives you some ideas. Please let me know if you have any questions or need some more suggestions for the people in your life. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness.com

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

Discover Your Strength!

6 Ways To Keep The Weight Off During The Holidays

1. It’s only three or four days in six weeks. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Company Party. That’s it! Don’t use that as an excuse to eat like garbage the rest of the time.

2. No guilt! Enjoy your holidays and don’t feel bad about it. If guilt sets in, you’re much more likely to use that guilt as an excuse to give in and indulge even more.

3. Prepare. The holidays are no secret. You know that Thanksgiving is November 22nd, Christmas is December 25th and New Years Eve is December 31st. Plan it out so that you eat well leading up to those days and can effectively use those days as “reward” days for eating well the rest of the time.

4. Exercise. There is no reason to stop exercising during the holidays. Again it’s just three or four days out of six weeks. Some people will tell me they’re too stressed out with family stuff to exercise now. That’s like saying I’m too sick to take any medicine. In other words, there’s no better way to get away for a little bit a do something positive for you.

5. Set a goal. Just set a goal for yourself that you will not gain weight during the holiday season. Write it down and believe that you will accomplish it. Like any goal, you’ll find yourself subconsciously doing the things you need to do to accomplish it.

6. Look ahead. You know how you’ll feel if you act like everyone else and put on 10 pounds over the next two months. Looking ahead at the end result of tends to keep things in perspective.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!

15 Minute Workout

Patience Is A Virtue

“Man, this is hard.” – Everyone who has ever tried to change their body.

Our bodies fight with us. It’s that simple. Our bodies don’t care at all that we want to lose weight, or gain weight, or get stronger or faster. It’s a lot easier for our body to stay right where it is. It likes it there. For this reason we have to resort to tricking our body in order to get it to change.  

If we want to get stronger we have to lift really heavy weights to trick our bodies into thinking that we have to do that on a regular basis to survive. If we want to lose weight we have to use more energy than we take in, forcing our body to burn part of itself for fuel. 

Remember, our bodies don't want to do this. That's an important thing to realize. Our bodies have a survival mechanism in place that tells it that change takes effort and it's better to save that effort for getting through those long winters when we don't know when we'll be able to kill a Woolly Mammoth for dinner.

Dinner before Safeway was invented

The point I'm trying to make is that whatever we want our bodies to do takes time and effort. Too often people are in it for the quick fix and think that they'll be able to undo years of bad decisions in a month. It doesn't work that way. 

Generally speaking, when losing weight you should be shooting for 2 pounds a week. That's it. It doesn't get you to the top of The Biggest Loser, but it does get you almost 20 pounds in two months. I'll bet you know people who haven't lost 20 pounds in years! 

I've experienced this myself as a competitive powerlifter. I recently went through a period where my own training felt  like it was in a bit of a rut. I was starting to feel as if I needed to switch around what I was doing. I was getting impatient.

Well I stuck with it, and over the last month I've hit two very big numbers, including one that has been a major goal of mine since I started lifting! My patience was rewarded and I learned something from it.

Too often, people are in it for the quick fix. In today's society we want everything five minutes ago, but when it comes to changing our body it just doesn't work that way. Things happen slowly for a reason and in the long run we actually want that to be the case.

For instance, if we lose too much weight at once most of that weight will be either water or muscle. The other thing is that if the body gets a shock like that (and losing a lot of weight quickly is a huge shock to our body) it will fight like heck to get back to where it was before. That's why people have such a hard time keeping weight off after it's lost.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in the words of Marge Simpson, "Slow and steady wins the race".

Have patience and be consistent and what you want will come to you and, more importantly, it has a better chance of sticking around.

Let me know what you think.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
Discover YourStrength!

Great Job, Folks!

I write a lot about how to improve your workouts and the things I see in the gym that could be improved upon. Today I want to take a different tact. I want to talk about the good things I've been seeing and how some of these things can help everyone do what they are trying to do.

1. Goals. Last week I started a Transformation contest amongst my clients. Overnight, the intensity and focus during their workouts have increased. Why? Goals! When people are focused in on something specific they want, they are much more determined to take the steps that get them there. I see it in myself as well. When I have something definitive I'm working towards, my workouts are much more intense and I get a lot more out of them.

2. Working hard. It's been said that the worst workout plan performed with intensity will yield better results than the best plan performed with no intensity. I have seen so many people lately, just really working hard at what they are doing. Whether it's a heavy set of squats, doing two-and-a-half hour workouts to get ready for a physique competition, or someone finally deciding to take control of their health later in life and doing every exercise the best they can, it is really inspiring to me to see the changes that exercise makes in people. It's why I do what I do and why I love it so much.

3. Deadlifts. Almost all of my clients deadlift. This doesn't necessarily mean lifting a barbell with a lot of weight off the floor. Sometimes it means lifting a single 10 dumbell off a step. I truly believe that deadlifts are the most functional of all exercises. After all, who doesn't need to lift something off the floor from time to time? Having said that, the amount of times I've seen someone in a regular gym deadlift can probably be counted on one hand. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when I saw not one, but two, people deadlifting in the gym last weekend! Huzzah to those folks!!! Now everyone else, get on the deadlifting train!

Fun for all ages!

If Arnold loved deadlifting, you should too!

These are just a few things I've seen lately that I really love and that inspire me to keep doing what I do.  I'd love to hear about the things that you see that inspire you. Just drop me a line and let me know.
Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
Discover Your Strength!

Figuring out nutrition labels and weighing food

I know that's a pretty dry title for a blog post, but that's what this is about, so here we are.

A few people have been asking me about measuring food nutrients, carbs, fats and protein. So I decided to write a quick post about what you want to look for on nutrition labels.

First, though, you need to get a food scale. The one pictured below is the one I have. It measures in both grams and ounces and they carry them at Target. Click here for the link. As of this morning they had them in stock at all of the Targets in the area.

Next, let's talk about food labels. Below is an example of the nutritional label for black eyed peas.

OK, let's break it down. One serving size is 200 calories, 1 gram of fat, 36 grams of carbohydrates with 11 of those grams being fiber, and 13 grams of protein.

One of the things people neglect to look at the serving size. It is very common that companies will alter the serving size on their labels to make their food look healthier than it actually is. In the case of this product, the serving size is 172 grams. Here's how you would figure out the nutritonal breakdown of the amount you'd like to eat.

First, take your handy food scale and set it to measure in grams. Now put the amount you'd like to eat on the scale. Let's say it weighs 90 grams. How do you figure out how many carbs are in that 90 grams? OK, let's do some math.

Divide 90 (amount on the scale) by 172 (full serving size). You get .52. That means that 90 grams is 52% of 172 grams. There are 36 grams of carbs per serving so multiply 36 x .52 and you get 18.72. That's how many grams of carbs are in the 90 grams. Don't forget to figure in the fiber, as well. 11 grams x .52 = 5.72. 18.72 - 5.72 = 13. So the serving size you have contains 13 grams of carbs.

All in all, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. If you are doing the Carb Nite diet, it's very important that you have a good knowledge of how to break down the macro-nutrients of what you're eating. At the beginning it'll take some work, but as you go along it will become second nature.

Once again on that diet here are the basic rules:

1. Stay under 25 grams of carbs daily.

2. Eat about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily.

3. Eat about 1 gram of fat per pound of bodyweight daily.

Please get familiar with labels. They are your friend.

Have a great day and please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

MitchRFitness.com

Discover Your Strength!

The Full Body Effects of Foam Rolling

Hello, everyone! My goal for today is to make everyone feel better. I like a challenge, though, so all I’m going to use is a foam tube. How am I going to do that? I’ll tell you about how wonderful you’ll feel after using one of these things! I didn’t say I wouldn’t need your help a little.

First, lets talk about what this thing is. It’s called a foam roller and it’s exactly how I described it: a tube made of foam. What do you do with it? Well, that’s where the fun begins! To put it simply, you lay on it and roll. (To see the full sequence I’ll be talking about check out the video posted below.)

If you’ve never used one of these things this may sound strange, but give me a moment and let me tell you what this does. First, though, a quick anatomy lesson. As I’m sure you know, our top layer of tissue is skin and under that, we have muscle. In between is something called fascia. Fascia is a layer of connective tissue that surrounds our muscles and literally runs from the top of our head to the soles of our feet. When everything is working well, our skin, fascia and muscles slide easily against each other, but during the course of life we develop restrictions and knots that prevent that from happening. These are the spots that are sensitive to the touch and feel so good when someone massages them out for us.

That’s essentially what foam rolling does: massages those spots out. As this happens we begin to feel better, move better, and gain flexibility! Sounds great, huh? Of course there is a slight catch. The first few times you do this it might feel a bit uncomfortable. Maybe very uncomfortable. Trust me, though, it will get better. If you do this for even a week, you will notice a pretty big difference and in a few weeks the difference will be huge.

I show all my clients a basic sequence that covers the whole body and takes about 5-7 minutes. Check out the video to see it.




Rollers usually run about $25 and to buy one online, just go here. They come in a few different styles. The white ones are the softest and the black ones are more solid. Initially, the white ones are probably fine, but they do tend to wear out quicker.

If you'd like to know more about these kinds of techniques using a foam roller and other tools you can come to a seminar I'm doing on September 22nd. You can go here for more information and here to sign up.  You can also call or email me with any questions about the seminar or anything else.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!

Knee Pain: A Very Basic User's Guide

I was struggling to find a topic for my latest article when my old friend and singer of the unbelievable band Marrow, Erin Fortes, suggested talking about knee pain and how to prevent it. Her suggestion specifically was to discuss weakness in some specific muscle groups and the tendancy of women to develop knee injuries because of that. I've decided to open it up a little, though, and talk about the things that I see in people all the time that can lead to knee pain and the things that you can do to prevent and improve it.

1. Get your backside stronger and moving better! The most common thing I see in relation to knee pain is simply that people simply aren't strong enough through their backside (hips, glutes and hamstrings) and don't move well through their hips. 

All over our body we have opposing muscle groups on our front and back side. Chest and back. Biceps and triceps, etc. Each muscle group pulls in a certain direction and, in a perfect world, the opposing side has about the same strength. This keeps our bodies balanced. In the case of our knees, we have our quadriceps (the muscles on the front of our upper legs) vs. our hamstrings (the muscles on the back of our upper legs). In today's world many people have much stronger quadriceps then hamstrings and this creates a pull on the knee joint causing pain.

On top of that, most of us sit in front of our computers all day, which causes some major tightness through the hips. This creates problems with our movement that can also cause knee pain. How do you know if this applies to you? Here's a quick test to give you an idea. Stand about a foot and half in front of a wall facing away from it with your feet in a nuetral stance. Now try to push your hips back and touch your butt to the wall. Go do it. I'll wait.

OK. One question: Did your knees bend? If they did, your hip movement is probably not very good. That's OK, though. Almost noone does it right the first time. If you had problems with it, get a little closer to the wall and work on it. And make sure you push back. No falling into the wall!

2. Women and knees. Yes, it's true. Women have knees. It's also true that knee injuries are a nearly epidemic problem for female athletes of all ages. There are a few reasons for this. The one that gets talked about most of the time is something called the "Q angle". What this refers to is the angle of your thigh bone in relation to your kneecap. Since women tend to have wider hips, they also have a wider "Q angle" which can put additional strain on the knees. Go here to find an easy way to measure your Q Angle. When you compound that with the issues that many women have with resistance training you can see the issue.

How can women combat that? Three words: proper resistance training. Please take note of the word "proper".

Do exercises that focus on good movement through the hips and that use a large number of muscles. If you are sitting and/or using machines, you are more than likely not working on proper movement patterns.

Squats and deadlifts are two tremendous exercises and squats shouldn't hurt your knees no matter what you've heard. If they do, it probably means you aren't sitting back or opening your hips enough.

Also, if you or your daughter are playing sports, doing some basic work on landing mechanics can be a very good idea.

Please know that I'm not an orthopedist and there can be many more causes of knee pain other then what I've covered here. If what I've suggested doesn't feel right to you go see a good sports medicine doctor.

Please let me know if you have any questions about what I've talked about or anything else. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness.com

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

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Avoiding The Most Common Gym Mistakes

Hi! What I'd like to talk about today are the two biggest mistakes I usually see at the gym. In fact, I consider it a bit of mission of mine to talk about these things and to help people overcome two of the most old-fashioned and disproving habits that many people still believe and follow.

1. Steady state cardio for fat loss. (If you don't know what this means, it's when you go at one steady pace for a long period of time. Like 30 minutes on the treadmill, for example.) OK. Let me get this out the way. There are some health benefits to doing a limited amount of steady state cardio, it's just that fat loss is not one of them.
Let me say that another way just to be clear:

If you are trying to lose weight, steady state cardio is an ineffective long term method.

Why? Let's break it down logically. Let's say you've never walked on the treadmill before. The first time you do, you go for 30 minutes which would burn approximately 150 calories if you are an average sized person walking at about 3 mph. (Yes, walking for that long only burns about that much and this is just an estimation.) Once you do this a few times your body starts to get better at it. In other words, it gets easier. Now your body body burns fewer calories for the same activity. Keep doing it and your body will continue to burn fewer and fewer calories. You see, you have to realize that your body doesn't care that you want to lose weight. It just knows that you're performing this activity on a regular basis and so it thinks it's got to adapt and get better at it. Using less and less energy to walk on the treadmill is how it improves.

What's even worse than that, however, is that as your body adapts to this activity, your metabolism away from the treadmill will also slow down. This makes it harder and harder to lose weight and, over time, can lead to injury and any number of metabolic conditions. What's the solution? There are two, one of which I'll talk about in a second and the other being interval training.

What is interval training? It's a method of training where you alternate very high intensity levels with very low intensity levels. Like a 20 second full-out sprint followed by 40 seconds of rest. Do about 5-6 of those and you'll see the difference. By the way, if you do six 20 second-sprints and you want to do more, then you probably didn't go hard enough.

2. Women must lift weights. Let me be clear about this one, too. It's the weights you usually lift are lighter then your backpack or purse, then that is not lifting weights. If you are trying to lose weight you must do something that increases your metabolism. Building lean body does that, lifting two or three-pound dumbbells doesn't.

Now, I know that you don't want to get bulky, but here's the thing. The hormone that is most responsible for building muscle is testosterone. The average woman produces about 10 percent of the testosterone of the average man. It's why you're looking forward to Twilight 4 and we're looking forward to The Expendables 2. Basically, it means that women, generally speaking, don't have the ability to gain an overabundance of muscle. So what you should do in the weight room? You should do multi-joint movements using big muscle groups. Like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, pull-downs or pull-ups. Do three to four sets of about eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise. This would be the groundwork for a very nice resistance training program.

I'm sorry if I've busted your bubble a little today, but the thing I most hate to see is people wasting their time or worse, actually making it harder on themselves to reach their goals. All this leads to is people believing that they can't do it and that exercise doesn't work. That saddens me, but I know that with this new information, many more people out there can reach their goals.

Please let me know what you think or if you have any questions about what we've talked about today. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
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Exercise Everyone Should Do: Deadlifts

Welcome Back! Today I’m going to continue with my “Exercises that everyone should do” series and tell you all about the exercise that, next to the squat, I find to be the most important and functional exercise there is. The Deadlift.

Why do I feel that way? Well, have you ever had to pick something up of the floor? A bag of groceries? Your kid? Anything else? We’ve all heard stories about the guy who messed his back up picking up a pencil off the floor, right? The deadlift teaches us how to do that safely and strengthens the muscles to make sure it’s done safely.

Also, it’s probably the exercise that uses the most pure muscle to perform. You use nearly every muscle in your body one way or another. Your quads, hamstrings, glutes, low back muscles, spinal erectors, lats, chest, forearms, shoulders, traps and core all work very hard to perform this movement. What that means is that you burn a ton of calories performing it and you build more lean body, which increases your metabolism.  That leads to fat loss.

As the cherry on top of your sundae it’s also the purest strength building movement there is. If you want to get stronger, and you should always want to get stronger, you’ve got to deadlift.

Needless to say, I believe that nearly everyone should be doing some kind of deadlift movement in their exercise program. After all, why do we exercise if not to help perform better in our daily lives?

There are a few different variations of a deadlift and in the video I’ll show you two of them. The key, as always, is to use correct form. This will allow you to get everything you want to out of the exercise and do it safely. What you always want to think about when performing a deadlift variation is the position of your back and chest. You want to make sure that you have an arched position in your back and that your chest is up. One way to help get into this position is to squeeze your shoulders back and down behind you. In the video I’ll demonstrate what this means and what this looks like.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many people simply do not have the ability to get into a good deadlifting position. For those people, simply put the weight on a step or a platform to lift it from a higher position. It is very important to keep that in mind and it is something that I go over in my video.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions about the deadlift or anything else. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness@gmail.com

www.MitchRFitness.com

Discover Your Strength!

Different Ways To Be A Better Runner

Hello, everyone!

Since Bay to Breakers was just this past weekend and the summer is upon us, leading to all sorts of other distance running events, I'd like to talk about the missing element in training for distance runs.
When most people want to run a distance race, the only thing they think about is getting out there and putting the miles in. This is important and it can help get our bodies ready for the pounding that we take when we run for an extended period of time. What we don't often think about are some other ways that we can not only protect our body from injury, but also improve our running efficiency and our time.

One of my bootcamp clients ran in the Bay to Breakers over the weekend and after the event he sent me this text:
 "This is my eleventh year running Bay to Breakers. For most of those years my goal was to finish it in under an hour. it wasn't until after regular sessions in your bootcamp that I was able to achieve that." - Bill Anderson.

Keep in mind that Bill is an experienced runner and he's also very proud of the fact that with his latest birthday he is now able to get the special discount at Denny's. What that means is that he is experiencing some big improvements at a point when many people are going the other way.

Now, in my bootcamp sessions I don't have anyone do any distance running at all, so how was he able improve and surpass the goal he's been after for over a decade? Two things: interval training and resistance training.

Let's talk about interval training first. If you don't know what interval training is, it is a type of training where you exercise at a very high level of intensity for a short period of time followed by a longer period of very low intensity movement or complete rest. For example, a 20 second sprint followed by 40 seconds of rest.
How could doing a few 20 sprints improve your time for a distance race? That's a fair question. The answer is that it helps in quite a few ways. For one, it gets the body used to running at a faster pace. By definition, we can only exercise at a high level of intensity for a pretty short period of time, so by using short, high intensity sprints we get our body better used to running at that intensity and speed. Another way is that interval training actually improves our aerobic conditioning more than long, slower exercise bouts. That means that we can maintain a higher level of intensity for longer periods of time.

The second way we were able to improve his time is resistance training. How does that help? Well, at it's core, running is all about force production. The more force you are able to put into the ground the more distance you are able to cover with each stride and the faster you will go. Getting stronger throughout your body allows you to simply put more force into the ground with each step. This additional strength and stability also has the additional benefit of helping you prevent the overuse injuries that are so very common among endurance athletes of all types.

I hope that if you're thinking of doing some running this summer you take just a little time in your training to add in some of these techniques. I think you'll really see a big improvement in your times.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!

Mary Pt. 2

Hi, everyone. Here’s the second of Mary’s columns:

Hello, everyone its me Mary. I’d like to start out and thank those who emailed me. Knowing I’m not the only one walking in my shoes is very helpful, so thank you for sharing your story with me.

I would like to share one thought that really helped me.  Since everyone knows me as Mary,  I should see myself as helping Mary.  Do what I would suggest to Mary.

  

Mary is my buddy even though it's me.

The past two weeks have been hard for me.  Trying to keep up with my busy schedule and trying to stay focused.  I wish I could say I am on the right track, but last Monday I was not at Boot Camp due to not feeling well.  That day I was feeling less energized as I would have if I had gone.  I should have just pushed myself and did the best I could.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Move on right?

 

I wish changes were easier than saying it.  I guess if it was I would not be where I am today.  But overall I would have to say "working out" has helped. I seem not to be as stiff and I have less back pain.  I definitely have more energy.  Another BIG change I am slowing working on is choosing what I eat.  It’s one of my hardest challenges.  Overall I am usually the one making dinner and buying the food we eat in the house.  When I walk into the Safeway, as soon as I walk in I see all the bad stuff like donuts, cakes, cookies.  All the comfort foods that I crave.  If I were only able to take one bite it might be OK but I can't, so I can't buy it.  To be honest I always put that stuff in the cart while I am walking and buying all the fruits, veggies and meat I need. About 85% of the time I put the cake back before I check out.  While I’m walking around I think, “Do I really need it? Will I feel good after I’m done?”  Most of the time my mind tells me NO.

 

Another problem I have when I eat starchy or heavy foods is I don't sleep well.  My stomach bothers me in my sleep and I end up having to sleep more upright.  Last week I tried something new for lunch and dinner. I ate only 4-6 oz of protein and 6-8 oz of mixed veggies.  If I have anything starchy like rice or pasta I would have it for lunch.  It’s definitely helped.

I have not lost much weight yet but I have more energy I am also doing more, less sitting, less catching up on my shows recorded on the DVR.  I guess that is a good sign.  I am on the right track doing the best I can.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT

510-754-7113

MitchRFitness.com

MitchRFItness@gmail.com

Discover Your Strength!

Mary Pt. 1

I had an idea. I thought that maybe if people heard from someone who was in their shoes, as in someone who was trying to get healthy but had their own concerns and fears, then maybe it would help give them the inspiration and courage to make some changes in their own life. I went to a client and asked her if she would help and she agreed but only if her name wasn’t mentioned.  For the next little while I’m going to turn every other column over to her.

"Hello, everyone. I’m going to call myself Mary.
About a month ago I lost my mom. She had lots of health issues from diabetes to heart problems. I’ve realized that I need to be serious about me. This is my wake up call. I worry about my health. My family has always had health and emotional problems.  I want to see my son have a family. I want to retire with my husband. I want to be one of the seniors that I see walking holding hands. I have a lot to work on. I enjoy taking care of other people but I’ve never been good at making time for myself.
I’ve been through cycles of watching what I eat and working out. I’ve tried everything from support groups to diet pills but I haven’t been able to stick to it. It doesn’t just effect me it effects my family, too. I have lost myself somewhere in me and I would really like to find myself again. I need this to make me feel good on the inside as well as the outside. I want to be able to wear a dress without feeling so insecure.

When Mitch asked me to write this I thought that maybe it would be help me commit. I’m good at keeping commitments to other people so I thought that my new commitment would be to whoever is reading this.

My biggest fears are failing and not finishing what I start.  I fear my life changing and never taking a bite of chocolate or ice cream again.

Step one is going to bootcamp three or four times a week and walking one night a week. Next week I’m going to start eating desert only once a week and work on lowering my calorie intake.
This past year I never got over 260 which is good for me. My goal is to drop 20-30 pounds in 2012. If it’s more that would be even better".

Every other column will be devoted to "Mary" and we'll see how she's progressing and what problems and fears she is dealing with. If you'd like to correspond with her to give her support, ask her questions or anything else, please email me at MitchRFitness@gmail.com and I will pass it along to her. Have a great day!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness.com
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
Discover Your Strength!

Let Them Train!

Hello, everyone. I’m sorry if I seem edgier than usual but I’m a little angry. One of my main goals as a trainer is to do my best to impart to women how valuable and empowering resistance training is. If you’ve read much of what I’ve written you know that resistance training can help you with an endless list of physical and mental issues. This is important to repeat because  mainstream media keeps repeating the same garbage about women not lifting weights because it’s not feminine or you’ll get bulky, or any other ridiculous BS reason.

I do my best to introduce all of my female clients and women in general to the benefits of resistance training and sometimes it’s difficult to break down that wall of “resistance” to this type of training. I can say (please contact me for testimonials) that every woman who has put their trust in me and put all their effort into doing this has seen tremendous results both physically and mentally.   
                                           
My view of the gym is that people are there to get their work in and don't really care what’s going on around them. When women have told me that they feel intimidated going into the free weight section that's what I've told them and it’s what I've always believed. In short, I thought the “guys paying too much attention to women lifting weights” was a little overblown.    

A few months ago two of my female clients started training for their first powerlifting meet and, due to some scheduling issues, one of their workouts each week is done together but without me at their local gym. The workouts consist of some combination of heavy deadlifts, good mornings, planks, step ups, and other similar exercises. In other words they’re lifting more than five pounds and they’re doing this in (gasp) the FREE WEIGHT AREA!! Keep in mind that both of these women can deadlift and squat well over 200 pounds.
Almost every week they’ve gotten some comment along the lines of “Why are you lifting such heavy weights?” or “What are you doing?” This reached a bit of a head when someone actually took a 55 lb. dumbbell out of one of their hands a few weeks ago and told her that “she shouldn’t be lifting anything that heavy.”

All I want to say is this: If you are the ones who are making comments like this, stop! You are doing women a massive disservice! Many women are, quite simply, doing harm to themselves with the kinds of workouts they do. The hours of cardio. The super high rep sets with virtually no weight. The bizarre diets. They’re setting themselves up for all kinds of metabolic and thyroid disorders, bone density issues and massive mental frustration with how hard they’re working only to feel worse and worse. Let them work in peace and hopefully more women will begin to realize how to get real results in the gym.

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
http://www.mitchrfitness.com/
Discover Your Strength!