I wanted to film a little something today instead of writing because I wanted to be able to demonstrate a few things. Take a few minutes and watch and let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
www.MitchRFitness.com
http://fast-metabolism.com Boost your metabolism with my free report
Discover Your Strength!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Exercise, Nutrition and The Flu Bug
The flu bug is definitely going around. Lots of my clients, friends and family have come down with things ranging from a bit of a cough to full on sickness in the last month. It’s not good! It gets in the way of life, and more importantly it gets in the way of exercising! I’m only half kidding about that. I want to give you a few hints for things you can do to get over, or hopefully avoid, this mess that’s going around.
1. Relieve your stress. This time of year does us all in. The holidays, the cold weather, the finances. It doesn’t help that even though we get a few extra days off work, it’s not like the work itself ever really goes away. Stress compromises our immune system big time so we’ve got to do things to help relieve it.
Many studies have shown that exercise is a proven way to relieve stress. It releases all sorts of hormones in our body that fight stress and it gives us a mental break from whatever it is that’s getting us down. Even though you might not feel like it and even though you might not be able to give everything you usually give in the gym, go in and do something and you’ll feel much better in the long run.
2. Resistance train. Many studies have shown that resistance training actually helps our immune system. (If it seems like I think that resistance training in a kind of panacea, you’re right. I do. Because it is.)
3. Eat your vegetables. The best way to keep yourself from getting sick is to give your immune system the ammunition to fight off the molecules that want to attack it. Well, consider vegetables a Howitzer, a Stealth bomber and the EM50 Urban Assault Vehicle from “Stripes”, all rolled into one for your body. Remember: nutrition is more than just a way to lose or gain weight. It’s a huge factor in what makes you healthy or what makes you unhealthy. It’s not neutral and if it’s not with you, it‘s against you. Try to take in at least 5-6 servings a day.
4. Don’t give in. You know the people around your office that scream “DON’T GET ME SICK!!” whenever you cough for any reason at all. They’re the ones who take Airborne and Emergen-C like it’s going out of style. They’re also the ones who are constantly out sick. Meanwhile those of us who don’t lose their minds about every sneeze and cough seem to get by just fine. What’s the message here? I don’t know, but I think that people who may be a little more tough minded about getting sick seem to get sick less. What I do know, is that just moving around can make things feel a lot better pretty quickly, so don’t give in to a sniffle. Get moving!
Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
Discover Your Strength!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
5 Ways To Get Fitness Results in 2013
Well, it's that time of year again. The time when your gym looks like rush hour on 880. I get it. The new year slaps us across the face and we realize we've got another one in the books. We say to ourselves "It's finally time to get in shape."
It might sound like I've got some sort of problem with it, but I think it's great! I think anytime someone starts to exercise an angel gets it's wings.
The thing I don't like is that people frequently do things that aren't effective and that gets them middling results or injured which gets them sitting at home until the next year slaps them in the face.
Today, I'm going to give you a few things to do in the gym that will help lead you to the results you're looking for and keep you in the gym for a long time to come.
1. Stand up! We sit in our car on our way to work. We sit at work. We sit in our car on our way back home. We sit at dinner, and after dinner we sit in front of the TV. Why in the world would we go to the gym and sit down? If your answer is that all the machines have seats than my answer would be to stop using machines.
Let's take a simple biceps curl for example. When we use a biceps curl machine we work our biceps. That's it. When we do a standing biceps curl with a dumbell we use our bicep along with our core, forearm, shoulder, back and hips. And that's a relatively simple exercise!
Simply put, we work much more muscle standing than we do sitting. Get off the machines and start using free weights.
2. Get a plan. You should have some idea what you want to do. Do you want to gain muscle? Lose fat? Get faster or stronger? A little bit of everything? Once you have an idea of what you want to accomplish, you can tailor your program to get those kinds of results. I've seen people who choose their next exercise based solely on what machine is available. That doesn't get you much.
3. Get someone to help you. This is not meant as a plug for my services (but you can email me at MitchRFitness@gmail.com). It's just that if I have to get my brakes worked on I'm going to take it to my mechanic. I don't know how to fix my brakes. If I need a new toilet installed I'll call my plumber. I found this out the hard way. If you don't know the best way to get you to your goals or you're nervous about your exercise form, talk to someone that might be able to help you.
4. Work hard. This is simple. You can forget about everything else I've written if you don't work. You will get better results from the worst program in the world if you work at it then if you slack off doing the best program in the world.
5. Forget the long slow boring cardio. Here's where I break out some science for you. Guess how much weight loss steady state cardio has been shown to cause in study after study?
That's right. Study after study has shown that hours and hours of steady state cardio has resulted in zero pounds lost.
What's the answer? Well, we talked about free weights now we can talk about intervals. That's when you do something at a super high intensity followed by rest or extremely low intesity. Something like this: run as fast as you can for 15 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this 5-8 times. If you did it right, this should finish you. If you feel like you can do more, raise your intensity.
Also, since fat loss is always a big New Year's goal you can read a free report I put together at http://fast-metabolism.com/ about how to boost your metabolism. It's free and it's full of really good info.
Have a great day and feel free to let me know if you have any questions you'd like answered in a future article.
Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
www.MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!
It might sound like I've got some sort of problem with it, but I think it's great! I think anytime someone starts to exercise an angel gets it's wings.
 |
| "Did you see that guy deadlift, Clarence?" |
Today, I'm going to give you a few things to do in the gym that will help lead you to the results you're looking for and keep you in the gym for a long time to come.
1. Stand up! We sit in our car on our way to work. We sit at work. We sit in our car on our way back home. We sit at dinner, and after dinner we sit in front of the TV. Why in the world would we go to the gym and sit down? If your answer is that all the machines have seats than my answer would be to stop using machines.
Let's take a simple biceps curl for example. When we use a biceps curl machine we work our biceps. That's it. When we do a standing biceps curl with a dumbell we use our bicep along with our core, forearm, shoulder, back and hips. And that's a relatively simple exercise!
Simply put, we work much more muscle standing than we do sitting. Get off the machines and start using free weights.
2. Get a plan. You should have some idea what you want to do. Do you want to gain muscle? Lose fat? Get faster or stronger? A little bit of everything? Once you have an idea of what you want to accomplish, you can tailor your program to get those kinds of results. I've seen people who choose their next exercise based solely on what machine is available. That doesn't get you much.
3. Get someone to help you. This is not meant as a plug for my services (but you can email me at MitchRFitness@gmail.com). It's just that if I have to get my brakes worked on I'm going to take it to my mechanic. I don't know how to fix my brakes. If I need a new toilet installed I'll call my plumber. I found this out the hard way. If you don't know the best way to get you to your goals or you're nervous about your exercise form, talk to someone that might be able to help you.
4. Work hard. This is simple. You can forget about everything else I've written if you don't work. You will get better results from the worst program in the world if you work at it then if you slack off doing the best program in the world.
5. Forget the long slow boring cardio. Here's where I break out some science for you. Guess how much weight loss steady state cardio has been shown to cause in study after study?
None.
That's right. Study after study has shown that hours and hours of steady state cardio has resulted in zero pounds lost.
What's the answer? Well, we talked about free weights now we can talk about intervals. That's when you do something at a super high intensity followed by rest or extremely low intesity. Something like this: run as fast as you can for 15 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this 5-8 times. If you did it right, this should finish you. If you feel like you can do more, raise your intensity.
Also, since fat loss is always a big New Year's goal you can read a free report I put together at http://fast-metabolism.com/ about how to boost your metabolism. It's free and it's full of really good info.
Have a great day and feel free to let me know if you have any questions you'd like answered in a future article.
Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Lean Eating Coach
510-754-7113
MitchRFitness@gmail.com
www.MitchRFitness.com
Discover Your Strength!
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