Meal Frequency-Another Myth Busted!

So we have all hear that eating small frequent meals will speed up your metabolism.  Many so called experts will tell you: "it strokes the fire and keeps the metabolism burning".  Sorry to bust you but that is false and read on to find out why.  Thought I would put together a quick explanation on why this is BS!

The theory is based on the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) which is how many calories your body burns off through thermogenesis while processing food.  Think of it like this, ever eat a really big Thanksgiving meal and feel warm after?  That is TEF.  It is one factor among many used to determine metabolism. An estimate of someone's TEF is 10% of the total calories ate that day.  This is a rough estimate as type of nutrients vary a lot in calculating TEF.  One who consumes a lot of protein might have a higher TEF as it is harder to process than some dietary fats.  So the theory of TEF is widely misunderstood and people thought hey!...... TEF burns calories so eating more frequently will increase TEF right?  Wrong, notice how TEF is based on caloric intake not frequency of meals.  If someone eats 3000 calories over 3 meals(1000 cals/each) or 3000 calories over 6 meals (500 cals/each) the TEF is the same.

With that being said I myself choose to consume 5-7 meals a day, depending on how long I am awake for and training days vs non training days.  For me I find it easier as I eat a larger number of calories when I am trying to put on muscle before I compete.  If I broke my meals into 3 they would be quite large and hard to finish.  Some of my clients I make meal plans for go this route because they like to enjoy a snack with        co-workers on a coffee break.  I also have some clients who don't have time during the day to eat 5 or 6 meals.  They might do construction or work in the oilfield where breaks aren't always possible so I base their meals plans eating less frequent meals.  Both different scenarios will not affect metabolism.  So in short do whatever works best for you!  

Muscle Imbalances

Ok, so we have all seen the senior walking down the sidewalk who is so hunched over they are almost walking looking at the ground, or perhaps know the person who goes to the chiropractor on a weekly basis and wonders why the problem goes away? hmm.

Well good news is you don't have to let this become you!

People have their posture become like this through muscles imbalances, this means certain muscles are stronger and/or tighter while the opposing muscles become weaker and/or more flexible.  While you may think wait more flexibility is a good thing(and it usually is), as long as the opposite muscles are just as flexible.
These imbalances are developed through or jobs, everyday life, injuries, sports, improper resistance training programs, nutrition, dehydration and many other factors can cause imbalances and loss of flexibility.  For example the posture displayed in this picture is seen a lot among someone who has worked at a desk job for many years.  People usually ignore this until they develop problems like low back pain, neck pain, headaches, knee pain, scoliosis, kyphosis, lordosis, as the list could go on FOREVER. When the problem arises people want it fixed instantly!  Well sorry to be the bearer of bad news but as the problem developed over TIME it can only be fixed over TIME.

A good fitness coach (aka Dan The Man!) can have you working on these imbalances before they become a serious problem.  By assessing  your posture and figuring out what muscles lack strength. A good coach can set up a resistance training  program that helps reverse these imbalances.  Certain exercises combined with stretches will help the body stay aligned.  That is why many of my clients who have relied on the chiropractic route alone find these problems always persist.  Get adjustments all you want but without the imbalances fixed you haven't gotten to the route of the problem.  Combine your chiropractic with resistance training and flexibility to get results that last.

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Tips For Staying Motivated!

Ok so we all have hard times when setting out to reach a fitness goal.  It is not going to be easy and there will be times where your frustrated and want to give up, but know this is normal and we all feel this at times.  Yes even Dan The Man!  I myself have a coach that helps me when I have doubts with my own goals.  Also have a social network of friends that support you in your goals.  They can be friends, family, girlfriend, boyfriend whoever just know that who you hang around will effect your goals in a negative or positive way.  Look to this social network for support when your struggling instead of emotional eating or even just as bad trying to cut corners by under eating or overtraining when you are down.  This will not help you reach your goals faster.  When Im am feeling down I try and shift my mindset to something positive or just tell myself to be awesome!!

Something that has helped me stay on track a lot is to track my progress.  I myself like to have progress pictures to show my results.  These provide a far better test than jumping on the scale and becoming obsessed over a number.  How you look and feel will prove better measure than numbers!

Lastly I would make a list of pros and cons of changing a lifestyle habit.  For example I had a client who had a sweet tooth (dont't we all at times)  We made a list of all the Positive changes that came as a result of cutting sweets out of her diet.

• a positive change in body composition.
• better health and less chances of disease like diabetes.
• More confidence and a more positive self image.
• Happier and more outgoing personality as a result of feeling better about her self image.
• weight loss
• felt healthier overall and didn't crash in the middle of the afternoon anymore
• craving diminished
• saved money that used to spent on cakes, pastries and even sugary drinks like soda.  All these things add up!
• this list went on for a while!

And the Negative 

• Well had to give up sweets and turn down desserts at dinner outings and yeah that was about it.

When you make this list and see the pros far out way the cons it is a lot easier to stay on track and think of the list when you reach for something that puts you further away from your goals.  Remember this change doesn't have to be food related.  Maybe your goal one week is to get more rest or take more time for yourself!

  I was a lot more focused when I stopped comparing myself to other people..  Compare yourself to nobody but you.  There will always be someone out there that is in better shape than you so don't let that be what you always compare yourself against.  Look at your own small progresses from week to week and be happy about them.  Maybe this week you trained harder than ever.  Or beat personal best in your sprints.  Whatever it is remember to celebrate and recognize your accomplishments!  If your always focused on the end goal you will overlook the small successes you have along the way!

As always Dan The Man appreciates any feedback and questions you may have.  Follow him on facebook a

at www.facebook.com/danthemanfitnessexpert

Having Trouble Losing Weight? Here is a Secret Too Help!

    Over the years I have worked with a lot of clients who have successfully lost weight without starving themselves and they definitely were NOT doing hours on end of cardio.  I have most of my clients for weight loss doing 2-6hours a week combined with weight training. which is not very much!  Most clients that have worked with me know that I stress resistance training and NUTRTION have a far bigger effect on fat loss than cardio.  You can do all the cardio you want but if your nutrition isn’t good (my view on good nutrition might be different than yours) you will not make a significant change in your body.  Until you make a change in your eating habits you cannot transform your body.  I do understand that it can be hard to follow a nutrition plan if it entirely changes your eating habits right from the start.  Implement it slowly.

So here it is, this is the most important thing I believe you need to understand when starting on a nutrition plan!

**You have to be aware of the term “Calorie Density”**

    Calorie density is simply the amount of calories per one gram of a certain food.  For example 100 grams of chicken is 158 calories, while the same 100 grams of bacon is 560 calories!!  Which is the better choice for protein?  Less Calorie dense foods are more filling with a fraction of the calories.  By no means do I recommend anybody count every calorie they eat but choosing foods with less calorie density will make it harder to overeat. 

    My point I’m getting at is even if in the beginning you don’t measure your food BUT try and eat less calories dense foods you will be eating less calories without noticing it.  Try to become aware of the calories per serving of foods and try to choose ones that are not as calories dense.  Even something like your morning trip to Starbucks can add 400 calories to your day if you like their fancy lattes!  Keep a food journal and work on switching out the calorie dense foods from your diet.  Need help identifying these well get someone to track it for you (like Dan the Man) and slowly make these changes every week!

Simple ways to decrease your calories:

·         use splenda and skim milk instead of sugar/cream in your coffee

·         Drink sugar free juices instead of high sugar juices and pop!

·         Use low calorie condiments like mustard, vinaigrette type dressings and salsa to flavor your food.

·         MAKE a list of Low calorie dense foods and try to pick foods from it when eating!

Remember it’s the small changes that count and will help you move towards your goals!

Machines Are NOT Just For Beginners!?!

 

Machines have a benefit for everyone from profesional athlete to complete beginner.  Some athletes I have trained seem to think they are beyond machines and give me this funny look when I instruct them to do an exercise on them.  Almost like they think they are too advanced for them  There is really a reason to my madness, believe it or not!  Read on to fine out why!
    Well I think we can all agree that free-weights are beneficial to build up body awareness, balance, stability and most importantly strengthen your stabilizers muscles which is needed for any sport.  However there is a point where the stabilizers muscles become overworked!  Especially in programs for high level athletes where the volume and intensity of programs is quite high.  This is where machines come into play.  You see when going through a resistance training program these stabilizer muscles fatiques ALOT faster then the primary movers.  So if you keep going with free-weights after these primary movers are fatiqued they will become overtrained and increase the risk of injury.  So by switching to machines they will get a break.  By no means am I saying too only use machines and ditch free-weights. 
    Lets put this into simpler terms, say we are a football player which everyone know needs a lot of leg strength.  We are at the gym training legs.  We have just done 4 or 5 sets of heavy squats with free weights.  Now we move onto some heavy stationary lunges with some free weights. Next we blast the hamstrings with some still legged deadlifts with a free weight barbeall for 4 heavy sets.  By this time the quads and hamstrings are tired but not done yet.  However all these exercise use the spine erectors muscles( muscles that stabilize the lower back) .  We can all agree by looking at them that these muscles are by far smaller than the quads, glutes and hamstrings.  Now wouldnt it make sense after all the previous exercise to give them a break, maybe finish the legs off on a leg press, hack squat or even some leg extentions and curls?  I would prefer this choice over injuring my lower back! 
    Machines also come into place to work around injuries, I myself have a right shoulder that gives me a lot of problems.  This injury was not from training but from swimming competively when I was younger.  The Muscles in my rotator cuff were overworked from the repetitive motion of swimming and became sretched out.  Thise cause my shoulder to become loose in the socket.  By doing my shoulder presses on a smith machine it allows me to train my delts HEAVY without using those stabilizing muscle and overworking them again.  This does not mean I dont add in some free-weight exercise to keep them strong.

To get a customized program with the right mix of free-weights and machines built for you and your goals contact Dan The Man today at 403-606-3206! Remeber consultations are always free so you can pick my brain and see what I can do for you!  Train safe and train hard!!


  

New "Superfood" to Lose Weight!

        We have all heard the term “superfood” that claims do something amazing like lose 20lbs in a month or get you abs in a ridiculously short amount of time.  They range from some fruit juice containing some new berry, to some magic pill and special shakes!  If this worked everyone would be walking around lean with six pack abs!  I hear this term used mainly by a salesperson trying to make a quick buck.  Most of these foods are endorsed by some movie star who apparently used this to get in shape. Everyone by now has heard of Acai berry for losing weight.….hmmmm right!  Stop falling for this and understand there is no shortcut for getting in shape! 

            Some of these foods are high in a certain nutrients (omegas, antioxidants, vitamins etc.), but always think, does the nutrient in the food even have anything to do with weight loss or whatever else they are claiming the product does.  Most of the time what they claim doesn’t even make sense.  A friend of mine recently called me telling me about a new found “superfood” for weight loss that claimed to drop belly fat and help people lose 2 pounds a week!  He then went on to try and get me to market it too my clients.  I had to stop and think, did he really believe the product would help people lose weight or even understand what the product was he was trying to sell?  My friend worked as an electrician, lived an unhealthy lifestyle, smoked probably a pack a day consumed a lot of alcohol and ate fast food almost daily.  Right sounds like the authority on fitness to me.  Don't get me wrong he is a very nice guy.  Always look at who is trying to sell you the product and you can easily tell if they are trying to make a profit or actually knowledgeable.  Upon research I found the product he was trying to sell me was a natural plant high in fiber and maybe some vitamins taken in a pill or powder form.  Would that be something new to help people lose weight, not at all considering you get fiber and the same vitamins from vegetables and many other foods available at the grocery store!  Wouldn’t a healthy diet and exercise get people the same results without the expensive supplement? I think so.

           I do agree that some of these foods are high in certain nutrients and very well may be healthy for you, however how does overloading on a certain nutrient help you when your body only needs so much of it?  Just because something is healthy for you doesn’t mean there isn’t a point where too much is not healthy!  I know exercising is good for me but should I work out ten hours a day.

              You can’t just research the “top ten superfoods” and think eating them will make up for your lack of exercise and crappy diet.  These so called foods will not make up for the other poor choices in your nutrition.

            Instead of focusing on one so called “superfood” in your diet try eating a variety of natural clean foods and combining this with a realistic exercise program made for your goals and then you will see results!

Dan The Man’s Myth Busters! Myth #1- Spot Reduction!

People have been led to believe by the media trying to sell gimmicks that certain exercises will burn fat in certain areas.  We all remember the "Thigh Master", who go skinnier thighs from using that?  For example doing a thousand crunches and other abdominal exercises will drop body fat in your abdominal area right?...No this is ridiculous and doesn’t work!, Here’s why;

            This is a myth known as “spot reduction” and will not work.  Fat stored in the abdominal region, known as adipose tissue cannot be burned by the body until it is converted into Free Fatty Acids (FFA) by the liver witch when metabolized create large quantities of ATP; which provides energy for the body.  For this to take place your body needs to be burning more calories than are being consumed.  Unfortunately fat is lost on the entire body and is genetically determined where it will be burned from first.  Diet and exercise will reduce ENTIRE body fat not just from one place. 

         The truth is you have no more control over where you lose body fat from than you did over where you gained it!