Another Nutrition Tip from Dr. John Berardi

Unhealthy 'Health Foods'
by Dr. John Berardi

Products that claim to be 'Cholesterol Free' and 'Low in Saturated Fat' often have the most trans-fatty acids. Unfortunately these are the products that most of the public thinks are 'healthy.' Remember, trans fats have absolutely no place in the diet! They're the only type of fat highly associated with very negative health outcomes.

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My Top Five....

....favorite people to watch at the gym.

1. The guy who wears the weight belt the entire time. Whether he's doing concentration curls, leg presses or checking himself out in the mirror, he's got his old leather weight lifting belt from 1976 on. The only thing the belt is actually good for is holding in his gut.
2. The Muscle & Fitness Guru. Usually a guy, he's telling everyone about the latest chest workout he just came across. 5 sets of bench presses, 5 sets of incline presses, 5 sets of machine chest presses, 5 sets of dumbbell flys and 5 sets of push ups. All sets are done in the high rep range. Yet, you take a look at this guy and he has not gotten stronger or bigger in the last 10 years. Please do not take any advice from this guy.
   
3. The Functional Trainer. No, I'm not talking about the machine. I'm talking about the trainer that has everyone of his or her clients doing some type of balancing act on the Bosu Ball. Never mind that the client has a hard time doing any type of exercise on solid ground. And every cue is "Use your abs". It doesn't matter if you're squatting, doing some overhead presses or grabbing a sip of water between sets. "Use your abs".
4. The Cardio Freak. They joined the gym to use nothing but the cardio equipment. They don't even know where the free weight area is. They just figured since they're moving and usally it's for 90 minutes, that they're doing something good for themselves. What they don't realize is that they could be doing something more productive if they put down the magazine or worked a bit harder or picked up a weight. All that time they're putting in and their body shape or composition never changes. And what they don't realize is that all this cardio work is helping them hold onto body fat.
   
5. The Spandex Guy. This guy needs a style make over more than he needs a personal trainer. Wearing spandex with white tube socks and black Reebok high tops went out in 1984. Actually, I don't even know if it was ever in. I'll just assume that since this guy's workout clothes are out dated that his workout routine is also.
   

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: MMA Conditioning Workout

Here's a workout borrowed from UFC champ George St. Pierre's strength coach, Jonathan Chaimberg. I've modified it a bit to accommodate those who do not have the equipment that's needed for the original workout. Anyways, here it is:

• 8 Burpees (Jump Squats for those less advanced)
• 8 Plyo Push Ups (Push Ups for those less advanced)
• 8 Inverted Rows on TRX or Smith Machine
• 8 Med Ball Slams
• 30 seconds AirDyne Bike or spinning bike
• 10 Jumping Lunges
• 80 Val Slide Mountain Climbers (regular Mountain Climbers if Val Slides are not available)

Do one exercise after another until entire circuit is complete. Rest for the amount of time it takes you to complete the circuit. Repeat 3-5 times.

Random Thoughts..

......after suffering from heat exhaustion the last couple of days.

• Can't wait for the NFL regular season to start. I just wish it was starting minus Brett Favre. Is there a more annoying player in any sport right now? Some people may not like me for saying this, but I'd much rather have Michael Vick on my team rather than this lunatic who just will not go away. Could you imagine our local Super Bowl MVP, Mr. Brady, pulling this type of stuff off at the end of his career?
  
• One more sports note. I guess when you're a nice, lovable guy (David Ortiz) and get caught doing steroids you won't be hated as much as a guy who's always saying and doing the wrong thing and wears lip gloss (A-Rod).
• I have not used the leg press or leg extension machines personally or with a client in the last three years. and I've used the leg curl machine on a couple occasions. It's all about getting a larger training effect and I feel that is much more possible through squats, deadlifts and any single leg work.
  
• It still amazes me how many people think cereal is a decent breakfast. You might as well sit down and just thrown down a couple tablespoons of sugar for breakfast. Or you could do the right thing and start the day off with some eggs (which can be cooked a number of ways), oatmeal (not the sugary packet stuff), plain yogurt (with whatever type of fruits you want mixed in) or a protein shake or smoothie.
• An easy way to think about eating right is to always include some type of protein source and fruit or vegetable every time you eat. Two things I'll notice when people are struggling nutritionally is that their protein intake is way down and that they're not getting in at least 3-5 servings of fruits & vegetables per day.
• I'd prefer to see people not do modified or "girlie push ups". First off, I hate them being referred to as "girlie push ups", because females are not the only ones who can't do push ups from a legs extended position. I have seen a good number of men doing push ups from their knees. But the real reason I do not like people doing push ups from their knees because it takes the core out of play. When the legs are extended out, the core has to work as a thoralumbar stabilizer. A much better way to do standard push ups if you can not do them from the floor is to elevate your hands on a step, bench or Smith Machine (which is about the only thing the Smith Machine is useful for). The higher your hands are, the easier the push up is. The closer your hands get to the floor, the harder the push up becomes.
• One of the keys to having a great workout is doing a proper warm up. Just hopping on the bike or elliptical for 5-10 minutes is not enough. In my opinion a proper warm up consists of a couple minutes of foam rolling or other types of self myofacial release, static stretching for areas that are overly tight (hip flexors and the gleno- humeral joint are common areas of tightness) 5-10 minutes of dynamic flexibility and then a a couple warm ups sets of your first exercise.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sending the Wrong Message

I'm calling out Time magazine for an article that I think came out some time last week. I know it was on it's cover. Here's the article in case you haven't read it:

Why Exercise Won't make You Thin

Before I even had a chance to read it, I had four clients refer me to it so I figured I'd better check it out. And when I was done with it, I couldn't have been more upset with Time for actually letting this article go to print. Yes, some points in the article are valid. Exercise alone is not the answer to losing weight. But it's definitely part of the weight loss equation. Right now, the United States is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. About two out of every three people are overweight. Some think that figure is going to get closer to 90% over the next ten years. Now one of the top selling magazines in our country is telling you not to exercise if you want to lose weight. How foolish does this sound? Time could have printed an article stating that exercise may help with weight loss (which we all know to be true) , but that article or headline would have been pretty boring. It wouldn't have grabbed readers attention or drawn them to the Time website. But this article catches people's attention right away because people hate to exercise. I'll even bet most people didn't even read the entire article. They just saw the article headline or magazine cover and thought if it's on the cover of Time it must be true. That is how some people think. They think of Time to be a reputable magazine. Not me. Especially when I see the quote from a researcher at LSU that states, "In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless." Great. Let's blame the inability for some one to lose weight on exercise. You just made a name for yourself. And if you want to go ahead and make these statements and print this type of garbage, go ahead and take the responsibility for this country continuing to get fatter.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Sled Dawg Chest Press

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Max Effort Pull Up

If you can do max effort effort upper body pressing work, such as bench presses or incline presses, how come you can't do any type of max effort upper body pulling work? You can, but I hardly see it ever done for reasons unknown.

Here is a pull up performed with 100lbs attached to a chin up/dip belt.

My Top Five....

.....reasons why calorie counting for fat loss does not work.

1. Choice of food matters more than anything. Lets put two meals 1000 calorie meals together. One that is made of grilled chicken and greens and one that is made up of mozzarella sticks and french fries. Logical reasoning will tell you that one 1000 calorie meal is much worse than the other, right? I hope it does.
2. Counting the calories themselves. I bet you you can not tell me how many calories are in each food item, even with charts you'll find lying around or on the Internet. You're probably either overestimating or underestimating. This can result in a difference of up to a couple hundred calories per day.
3. Fat loss vs. weight loss. Yes, some calorie restrictive diets result in weight loss, but a good percentage of that weight loss is hard earned muscle. With a loss in muscles mass comes a drop in metabolism. And with a drop in metabolism comes an even lower calorie number to shoot for for a negative energy balance. Next thing you know you're on a 500 calorie a day diet. No more calories after breakfast and you're miserable.
   
4. The machines are not correct either. Okay, so may be you can not keep an accurate track of how many calories you're taking in per day, but the treadmill must have an accurate number of how many calories you're burning, right? Wrong. Just about every machine will spit out a calories number that is also inaccurate. It could be any where from 10-20% off in either direction. Again resulting in a difference of possibly hundreds of calories.
   
5. All calories are not created equal. Whether calories are coming from fat, protein or carbohydrates, they are all metabolized differently. Proteins and fat are going to have a different effect on your blood sugar than carbohydrates. Plus, the thermic effect of each type of calorie is different. It takes about four times more energy to break down a gram of protein than it does to break down a gram of carbohydrate. So getting in more calories through protein over the course of the day can have a greater positive effect on your metabolism.
   

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: EZ Bar Revrse Curl

You will usually will not see me doing too much direct arm work, either with myself or with clients. But hey, it's summer time, right?

When doing direct biceps work I see a lot of guys doing a lot of work for the biceps, but hardly any work for the brachialis. The brachialis is emphasized with any type of reverse or overhand grip. Adding in some work of this often neglected muscle can really jump start your arm training.

I also prefer to use the EZ Bar for this movement in place of a straight bar because of less stress on the wrists.