Fit Fact by LaRue: Think Opposites for a Great Workout!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last Fit Fact. Sorry for the delay, but here it is! This Fit Fact will help you develop or maintain what we all are looking for in our exercise routine – BALANCE! Please enjoy, and as always, feel free to share this link with your friends.

In Health,

LaRue

FIT FACT

Think Opposites for a Great Workout

Presented by LEC Fitness, LLC

This Fit Fact will expand upon a concept that I introduced in an earlier Fit Fact.

Everyone has their favorite exercises or their favorite body parts that they like to exercise. Whether it’s an area of our bodies that we think is weaker, or needs more work cosmetically, the truth is that we often fall into the habit of working on the same areas workout after workout.  But, the secret to a great workout is to pay attention to those ‘other areas’ as well! Here’s a simple way how to do this and to help ensure that your body is getting a complete workout. Work opposites!

Just take a look around your gym the next time you’re working out. Chances are that you’ll see someone working feverishly on, for example, chest press, leg extensions, or bicep curls, and then move on to something else working those same muscle groups, leaving their poor ‘opposite’ untouched. So, what I recommend is an occasional technique known as ‘Super-Setting.’ This technique entails your exercising a muscle and then its opposing muscle in successive exercises. By exercising in this way, you ensure yourself that both sets of muscles will get some attention – thereby helping to ensure a complete workout, and helping to maintain or develop muscle strength symmetry (i.e. helping our body to maintain its proper relative strength).

One word of caution:  Super-setting can lead to faster muscular fatigue since you are essentially working the same body part in successive exercises, so take it slow!  See how your body reacts to this form of exercise, and if you find it too difficult, simply perform exercise for these opposites later in your workout but not necessarily in succession as described above.  Ok, that’s it!  Go forth and exercise, and of course Have Fun!

As always, check with your physician before undertaking the exercises described in this Fit Fact, or any other exercise to help ensure that it’s proper for you.

As a certified personal trainer I strongly recommend that you meet with a certified trainer or other fitness professional to help you plan your program so that you can make safe and effective changes to your exercise program.

This Fit Fact is brought to you courtesy of LEC Fitness, LLC www.lecfitness.com

 

 

Fit Fact: Teachable Moments – Look For a Trainer Who Will Teach, Not Just Train

Hi everyone! This latest Fit Fact will hopefully help you take charge and become proactive in improving your own health and fitness. Enjoy!

FIT FACT

Teachable Moments: Look For a Trainer Who Will Teach, Not Just Train

Presented by LEC Fitness, LLC

“If I train my client, I’m in control I have “THE POWER!”  If I teach my client, I have transformed them into a person of action, someone who can take ownership of their own health and well-being.” (LaRue Cook)

One of the things that I love about what I do is having the opportunity to help others by serving as a source of useful fitness, health and wellness information. One of the ways that I do this is by serving as a contributor to several fitness professional list serves and blogs – counseling and advising other trainers and fitness professionals.  I recently responded to one trainer’s question about the role of a personal trainer. I responded that I see a major part of what we as trainer do (or should do) is to teach.  I truly see this as way that I can have a positive influence on my clients’ health and well-being now, and in the future.

After answering the trainer’s question I started to think about this a bit.  My answer and the quote above goes to the core principles of how I work with my clients – I view a major part of what I do as TEACHING.  Early on in my career I realized that the true value of what I can provide to my clients is the art of designing effective exercise programs for them, and the science of helping them understand how the human body functions.   After all, clients don’t need me – or any trainer for that matter – to simply stand there and COUNT 1, 2, 3, 4… as they perform one of the many exercises that I prescribe for them that day. What a waste of my time and their money.  You can pick-up a book or magazine with photos of exercises and count to 10 or 12 by yourself.  The real value lies in teaching the WHY – the science – and not just the how.

I LOVE my role as a teacher! I LOVE my role as a motivator!  I LOVE my role as a trainer!  So, I thought that I’d devote this Fit Fact to a couple of  basic facts about how our bodies work – the kind of basic teaching that I like to give to my clients to help empower them to take some ownership of their own workouts and exercise.

Make no mistake about it there is tremendous value to your having a trainer.  Exercise programs that are designed specifically for you, that are scientifically based, that are effective, and perhaps most important – that are safe, are all great reasons for using the services of a trainer.  But, I think that the real value of your trainer, beyond the art of programming – is using the science of exercise science to teach, to empower and to create a level of independence.  This is what is lacking from some client-trainer relationships, and is definitely lacking when you get your exercise advice from a generic workout or list of exercises that you might find in a magazine or book!

So here are a couple of simple lessons in exercise science.  Stay with me here because although these facts will be basic in nature, they will be also be a useful reminder of how your body works, and instrumental in helping you create some basic exercises for yourself.

Back Muscles

Here’s a very simple, yet very effective lesson:  Our back muscles PULL.  That’s it!  So, how can you use this information?  If I’m working with one of my clients and assuming that we have worked together long enough that she now has an index of exercises at her disposal, I can give her a homework assignment of doing an at-home workout before our next session together by saying something like “do 3 back exercises at home tomorrow,” and my client can design her own workout for her back.  She immediately knows to START PULLING SOMETHING!  Not only does this allow her to workout at home and be better prepared for our next workout together, but it also gives her some basic knowledge of how her body works.

With this information, she can develop exercises as simple as tying a rope to a locked and secured door, sitting on the floor and pulling herself across the room toward the door (an exercise that you’d have to see first to fully understand, but one that I use with some of my junior athletes), or it could be performing a single arm bent-over rowing motion with a full gallon milk jug.

 

Opposites ‘Contract’

Our bodies are a wonderfully-designed machine!  We are created in a way that there is a natural symmetry (or at least most of us are born with one) to our bodies; when one muscle stretches its opposing muscle contracts.  So, for example, if I perform a bicep curl exercise (i.e. contracting my bicep), my opposing muscle (triceps) elongates or stretches.  So how can you use this information?  Use it by making sure that you understand the need for exercising and stretching a muscle AND its opposing muscle – this will help you maintain or develop symmetry.  Biceps-triceps, hamstrings-quadriceps, abdominals-lower back are all examples of this concept.

So there you have it!  You’ve just learned two simple, yet important facts about how your body works!

Good luck and have FUN!

*** As with all exercise, always check with your physician to ensure that your exercise plan is appropriate for you BEFORE undertaking any exercise. ***

This Fit Fact is brought to you courtesy of LEC Fitness, LLC www.lecfitness.com

Fit Fact: “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”

FIT FACT

“Failing to Plan is – Planning to Fail”

Presented by LEC Fitness, LLC

“Failing to plan is – Planning to fail.” I’m sure that most, if not all, of you have heard this quote before. In the world of fitness it’s oh so true. When it comes to your fitness, having a plan as to how you will improve or maintain your fitness is worth its weight in gold. An analogy that I like to use to remind my clients of this fact is, “Would you simply get in your car and drive aimlessly around looking for ‘some destination,’ or instead, decide where you’re trying to go, and then plan on how to get there?”  Having a fitness goal of “getting fit” or “getting in shape” is a lot like NOT having a real destination of where you want to go, and, working out “one of these days,” or “when I have time or a chance” is NOT a real plan for how you’re going to get there.

So what I recommend is you take a moment to sit down with a pencil and paper to write down your fitness goals, or to discuss them with a certified fitness professional. This will give you the opportunity to explore what your fitness goals are, and to prioritize and quantify them.  One of the most common complaints as to why people DON’T exercise regularly is “not enough time.”  So, by prioritizing your exercises, you can at least begin to focus your limited time and attention to those areas of weakness in your fitness.  Remember, true fitness is comprised of FIVE components: muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition and cardiovascular condition, so take the time to address each of these in your planning (Caveat: even though your planning will help you prioritize your workouts, never totally ignore your strengths!).

Quantifying your goals is a great way to gauge your progress as well as to help you stay on course.  So, having a goal of “reduce my body fat by 2%,” or “increase my ability to walk from 1 mile to 2 miles,” are things that you can measure.  Think of this as your odometer to help you measure how far you’ve come and how far you have yet to go to reach your destination.

Once you have a better idea of WHAT you want to do, then you can concentrate on the HOW!  Again, unless you’re an experienced exerciser, I would recommend spending some time with an experienced certified fitness professional to help you create a plan.  There is a wide-variety of exercises that you can perform to help you reach your fitness goals – your only limitation is your imagination!  That being said, not all exercises are appropriate for everyone, so caution is a key here, and again, “when in doubt, seek the advice of an experienced and certified fitness professional.”

With an understanding of what you want to accomplish, and a concrete plan in hand on how you’re going to do it, making it to your FITNESS DESTINATION should be a lot more focused and efficient.

Good luck and have FUN!

*** As with all exercise, always check with your physician to ensure that your exercise plan is appropriate for you BEFORE undertaking any exercise. ***

This Fit Fact is brought to you courtesy of LEC Fitness, LLC www.lecfitness.com

 

Fit Fact From LaRue: Cardio Before Weights or Weights Before Cardio?

Welcome everyone!  Spring is in the air!  Here’s my latest Fit Fact to help you get in shape.  Enjoy!

FIT FACT
Cardio Before Weights or Weights Before Cardio?
Presented by LEC Fitness, LLC

I’m often asked “Should I perform my cardio exercise first or my weight training first?” As a matter of fact, I recently answered this question for the readers of an online publication. When asked, I usually give the same answer – “it depends.”  Ok, so perhaps not exactly the definitive answer that people want to hear, but honestly, it’s the best one that I can give!  Here’s why.

 
When trying to decide the order of exercise between these two, the answer really depends on your training goals, or can even be as simple as the type of challenge you’d like to give yourself on a given day.  For instance, is your training goal focused on increasing your strength, improving your cardiovascular conditioning, or perhaps reducing body fat?  Conventional exercise wisdom says that aerobic exercise (e.g. walking, running, biking or swimming) is perhaps the best way to reduce body fat and improve your cardiovascular condition. So, if that’s your focus, then performing your aerobic exercise while you are fresh (i.e. first) probably makes sense. Likewise, if developing strength is a primary goal, then, at least in most of your training sessions, performing your resistance training first makes sense. That way, you are not pre-fatiguing your body with your aerobic training, and can devote your best efforts towards your resistance training.

 
With this being said, there may still be instances where you may want to switch things up by performing your secondary exercise FIRST. By doing this, you can add an element of intensity to your primary exercise. So, for example performing your strength training after a cardio workout will make the strength training session more intense and challenging.  However, a Word of Caution if you decide to occasionally train this way – remember that since you will be pre-fatiguing your muscles by performing the secondary exercise first, you may not be able to push as hard with your primary exercise, so be careful and don’t be afraid to cut-back on the intensity of your primary exercise in that particular workout.

This Fit Fact is brought to you courtesy of LEC Fitness, LLC www.lecfitness.com

Your Fit Fact: Overload

Hi everyone! Here’s our latest Fit Fact on the importance of OVERLOAD to your exercise program. Enjoy!

FIT FACT

Presented by LEC Fitness, LLC

Have you ever reached a point in your workouts where you seemed to be stalled – seem to no longer be making progress in your fitness?  Or, you simply find yourself bored with your exercise routine?  If so, or if you want to avoid this before it happens, please READ ON.

My mantra to help you avoid these stall points or boredom in your workouts is “Overload to Avoid Plateau.”  The Overload Principle is a simple principle that allows your body to make fitness advances by working at an exercise-intensity greater than what is accustomed to.  In Plain English this translates to, for example, increasing the amount of weight that you normally lift.  But, this principle does not only apply to strength training, aside from strength, this principle can also be applied to other fitness components such as flexibility and even your cardiovascular fitness.   Here’s how this might work for you.

If you think back to when you first started exercising, certain exercises were probably more difficult than others.  For example, if you walk for your health, you may have started out walking a mile.  You may have found yourself huffing and puffing along as you walked your mile.  If you stuck with it, as you continued your walking routine throughout the days, weeks, months you may have found walking that same mile easier and easier.  Here is where – if you want to continue to challenge your cardiovascular system to improve – you may want to overload your cardiovascular workout to keep your fitness gains moving forward.  You can overload in a number of ways:  increase the distance you walk, decrease the time that you walk that same mile (i.e. walk faster), or a more advanced method such as wearing a weighted vest or carrying some external weight while walking that same mile.  The same principle applies to your strength training:  lift more weight, increase the number of repetitions you perform with the same weight, or decrease the amount of rest you take between exercises.  All of these are examples of overload, and of how you can continue to challenge yourself to make advances in your fitness.

By safely incorporating the overload principle into your workouts you will not only find yourself avoiding the dreaded plateau, but also keeping your workouts interesting and challenging!

One word of caution:  Overloading is not something that should be undertaken without planning because, if done improperly, it can lead to injury.  Generally speaking, you should NOT increase more than one exercise factor at a time (e.g. time, distance weight).  As a certified personal trainer I strongly recommend that you meet with a certified trainer or other fitness professional to help you plan your program so that you can make safe and effective changes to your exercise program.

This Fit Fact is brought to you courtesy of LEC Fitness, LLC www.lecfitness.com

 

Yours in Health and Fitness
FIT FACT3LECFitnessFF

Sportsmetrics™ Injury Prevention Testing by LEC Fitness, LLC

Hey everyone!  As we slowly but surely creep towards Spring and Summer, our young athletes are preparing to return to outdoor sports and activities. As you parents, coaches and athletes begin your preparation for these warm-weather activities, conditioning and sports performance training should be an important part of that preparation!  Getting stronger, AND remaining injury-free should be two of your primary goals before your sport begins.

My company, LEC Fitness is a licensed Clinical Site and certified Provider of the award-winning Sportsmetrics™ Sports Performance and Injury Prevention Program. This program was researched and designed specifically to help athletes avoid the risks of a potentially devastating injury – non-contact ACL injury – a risk that can be lessened through proper training.

Here is a short video clip of us conducting the test on one of our athletes, and the resultant test that you will receive.  This test result helps us plan our “next steps” in the training process, and helps us identify potential problems in the athlete’s body mechanics that could lead to injury.

Yours in Health and Fitness
Sportsmetrics™ ACL Injury Prevention Testing by LEC Fitness

Fit Facts by LaRue: Proper Hydration

FIT FACT2LECFitnessF

Hello everyone! With the first month of 2012 under our belt the New Year’s eve “charge” towards better health and fitness continues for many of us. Here’s some “common sense” advice on a health topic that oftentimes goes unnoticed – proper hydration – just click on the link above to read this Fit Fact.   Enjoy, and “keep drinking!”

In Health and Fitness

Create DEBT to Get Ahead

It’s that time of the year where many of us are looking to start on the road of getting fit,  losing weight and getting healthy. With so much information out there on how to accomplish this goal and the “best ways” to do this, what makes sense?

Well, one principle that underlies most if not all of the diet and weight-loss advice out there is that you must EXPEND more calories than you take in! But how should you create this DEBT? What makes sense? How does your body react when you attempt to do this?

According to Kevin Hall, PhD of the National Institutes of Health if you approach your weight loss goals by merely slashing calories – in other words approaching this goal only by reducing food intake – you cause your body to rely on its defense mechanism of CONSERVING or storing energy when it thinks it’s being starved. In other words, it slows its metabolism. This of course has the opposite effect of what you’re trying to do by dieting. So, what’s the answer? CREATE DEBT!

The kind of debt that I’m talking about here can be created through activity – through exercise. By combining exercise with a healthy reduction in your food intake (and here I would insist that you seek the counsel of your physician or registered dietician before you do so), you can begin to expend more calories than you bring in. Dr. Hall says that by gradually reducing your calorie intake you won’t trigger the starvation reflex, and instead of resisting your efforts, your body will adapt to the reduced calorie intake and exercise by LOSING!

So, what are you waiting for? Start going into DEBT today!

Healthy Employees Equal Simple Math

CEO’s, Executives, Business Owners and Managers:

Healthy Employees = Happy Employees
Happy Employees = A Healthy Bottom Line

DID YOU KNOW? That surveys show that the top 5 Reasons that successful companies offer Workplace Health Promotion programs are:
1. they attract and retain good employees
2. they keep employees healthy
3. they improve employee morale
4. they improve employee productivity
5. they reduce employee health care costs

LEC Fitness is owned and operated by an experienced corporate wellness professional with experience managing and directing employee wellness, fitness, and health programs at a local college and for a large corporate fitness center.

There are many employee wellness options available for any size employer and for any budget. Check out our attached summary for just a few of our programs:  LLCWebsite2CorporateProg

Top Reasons for Having a Corporate Wellness Program

Ok, although many of you out there have probably already heard or read of some of the reasons why having a Corporate or Employee Wellness Program makes SENSE and CENTS it never hurts to hear it again. Here are just three (in no particular order):

- the reduction in the use of sick leave
- improved employee morale and retention
- reduced health care related costs

The great thing about Corporate or Employee Wellness Programs is that they can come in all sizes and shapes, and can be suited for the particular company no matter what size.